Malaysia

Ken Yeang is internationally recognised as the leading proponent of ecological design in architecture. He is probably best known as the inventor of the green skyscraper; it was his innovative idea to incorporate bioclimatic features in a high-density building type. It is for this and his ecological urban design that he has gained a uniquely influential position within architecture. Featuring 22 of Yeang's most significant projects, this is the first definitive book to cover his 40-year career.

This book offers a glimpse of the Malaysian art scene in the making, seeking out and briefly documenting practices and tendencies that have emerged over the past several years which have captured the attention of contemporary audiences. It showcases the works of game-changers and risk-takers in a shifting art ecology with the greater aim of capturing the spirit of a rising generation. Artists featured in the book include recent winners of The Young Contemporaries and Malaysian Emerging Artists Awards. Many of them are painters but there are also those focusing on photography, sound, street art and design as well as performance, installation, video and object-making.

Many archival photographs are included in this insider's account of Malaya's music scene 1900-1965, a period of close Malaya/Singapore interchange. The first section overviews the history of Malay music, traditional songs and the early 20th century's Bangsawan opera, and gramophone and radio music. This music scene and Japanese policy 1942-45 and the 1045-65 developments in Radio Singapura, in cinema and entertainment hubs and at functions are then described. Inset photographs and biographical summaries are given for some 90 artistes and performers, and the role of musical groups noted. With bibliography, online database and index. Bilingual in Malay.

From the crumbling backstreets of Chow Kit to the gleaming highrises of Sultan Ismail Road, ladies of all ages and ethnicities patrol the dark alleys, fancy clubs and dingy massage parlours of Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur, cruising for customers and surviving on their wits, born in some cases out of true desperation but in other cases out of lifestyle choice. Veteran writer and author Ewe Paik Leong uncovers a hidden world of KTV lounges within hair salons, massage parlours that offer services beyond the therapeutic and food courts that transform at night into whirlpools of vice, drawing both young and old, the curious and the regulars. In a series of fascinating encounters and interviews with high-end nightclub hostesses and their mamasans, freelance escorts, surreptitious streetwalkers, urut batin 'therapists' and more, the author confronts head-on important issues of trafficking, poverty, heart-wrenching misery, wayward morals and even black magic.

In this unique work of fantasy fiction, author Golda Mowe - herself an Iban from Borneo - uses real beliefs, taboos and terminology of the Iban (a longhouse-dwelling indigenous group of people from Borneo who, until very recently, were renowned for practising headhunting) to weave an epic tale of good versus evil.

By the late 19th century, Penang had become a thriving port trading in rubber, spices and tin. Its prosperity attracted immigrants from around the world and the island was a rich melting pot of Chinese, Indians, Malays, Europeans and many other peoples. The postcards reproduced in this book are drawn from the huge collection of Penang-born Professor Cheah Jin Seng, and vividly capture the charm and diversity of Penang. This book is a valuable collector's item as well as an important historical reference, particularly for philatelists and deltiologists.

No-nonsense writer Kee Thuan Chye is back exposing more bullshit in the Malaysian political realm. His pen is as sharp as ever as he slices the lies to bits. Najib Razak, Hishammuddin Hussein, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Mahathir Mohamad, Perkasa, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Election Commission, PTPTN, Chua Soi Lek, Utusan Malaysia, Pakatan Rakyat, even the police - hardly anyone is spared.

Carol Selva Rajah, a well respected authority and dedicated educator in the field of Asian culinary culture, honors her childhood memories of sweet-smelling and fragrant kitchen aromas in her newest Asian cookbook, Malaysian Cooking. Chef Carol predominantly uses Malaysia's most aromatic cooking ingredients-from sweet tamarind date chutney and cucumber mint raita to cashew nut and plum sauces-to prepare easy Malaysian and Indonesian foods that not only burst with flavor, but also overwhelm the kitchen with wonderful fragrances anyone would like to create.

These 54 trenchant articles, mainly about Malaysian affairs are from Dean John's weekly column in Malaysiakini.com. With systematic and uninhibited zest political scandals are uncovered, light is shed on (alleged) corrupt practices, and dirty secrets - mainly about Malaysia - are brought out from the shadows.

In 1998, Anwar Ibrahim, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia was arrested and tried for Corruption and Sodomy. In 1999 he was convicted of corruption, and subsequently acquitted from sodomy in 2004. In 2008, he was again charged with sodomy and the trial ended in 2012 with an acquittal. This book, written in the form of a commentary, is from the perspective of one of Anwar's lawyers from his first two trials. It serves as a critical assessment of the Malaysian judicial system, the two decades of attacks on Anwar Ibrahim and the (mis)handling of his trials, seen by many quarters as being orchestrated by the powers that be.

Draws together information from 16 by-elections that took place in Malaysia since the 12th General Elections in 2008, in an important assessment of the current health of Malaysia's electoral system. The chapters have been written by journalists, activists and researchers. This volume documents the by-election process and claims to have identified some significant flaws in the electoral system, particularly in relation to issues of legitimacy.

This love story unfolds against the historical canvas of British Malaya with the migration of Desa from India to the rubber plantation of Perak on the eve of the Second World War. The love story of Desa and Janeki is narrated against the backdrop of an alternative history of Malaya - herein lies the value of this novel. It is crammed with little known historical details of the times - especially of the Indian estate community in Malaya, for example, the nationalist Indians' flirtation with the Indian National Army and working class Indians' vital role in the MPAJA's rural campaigns.

Bersih 3.0, on April 28, 2012, was the first time in Malaysian history that people from all walks of life, age groups, races, creeds and backgrounds, truly came together to make their presence felt and voices heard. Gathered together in this volume are pictures from Bersih 3.0 in KL, across Malaysia and around the world. Together, they provide a snapshot of a key moment in Malaysia's history that will reverberate for generation to come.

With more detailed coverage spanning over 250 pages and over 600 photos capturing the variety of everyday life in Kuala Lumpur, this guide provides a highly visual introduction. Expanded and updated restaurant listings feature the best eateries to suit all budgets within each area, giving the address, phone number, opening times and price range, followed by a useful review. A new illustrated section covers all the top shopping areas, department stores and markets.

The first part of the book details Malaysia's rich natural landscape, fascinating history, and dynamic modern culture. The Places section contains descriptive region-by-region accounts of where to go, complemented by attractive, detailed maps linked to the key sights by numbered dots. At the back of the book, the Travel Tips section provides all the practical information you'll need to plan a memorable trip, as well as selective listings giving our writer's pick of the best places to stay and eat.

Through this superbly illustrated, multi-faceted and adventure-filled opus, Danum's mysterious rain forest is brought to life - from its simple strength as some of the last pristine landscapes still guarding the evolutionary secrets of nature, awesome mass flowering re-enacted through captivating aerial photography, to glimpses into a spectacular diversity of life forms, both animal and plant, and numerous scholarly insights into its environment and ecological networks. Solidly based on a quarter-century of research by a small army of eminent scientists, this highly readable book weaves together the findings of a considerable volume and variety of scientific journal papers, books, as well as PhD and MSc theses. In essence, the cream of the work of numerous scientists, explorers and conservationists now comes within easy reach of everyone lured by the tropical rain forest.

The medicinal use of plants was of course always traditional in Malay rural society. Part One of this illustrated softback is an account of Malay traditional medicine and discussion of plant usages and the manufacture of plant medicines and liniments, and also the role of male and female practitioners in village society. Part Two gives botanical, habitat, usage details, photographs and black-and-white line drawings of some 100 medicinal plants with notes of the findings of recent scientific analyses. With a register of scientific and local names and a register of ailment, uses and plants.

This 2010 translation enables a wider readership for this successful and insightful novel by National Laureate Abdullah Hussain (b. 1920). The story, set in pre-Independence rural Malaya, tells of Malay-Chinese-Indian interaction and ends at the point of 1957's Declaration of Merdeka (Independence).

This short history of Malay literature from the 18th century by the poet, critic and translator Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh (b. 1942) includes consideration of literary works from Sabah and Sarawak as well as Peninsular Malaysia. A brief summary is given of the 18th and 19th century antecedent of the first modern period from c. 1920 to 1941. Fiction, poetry and the role of newspapers, journals and literary awards in the pre-Independence period are discussed and an account given of many of the works of Malay poets, dramatists, critics and authors since 1957. The last chapter is a short survey of young writers and their post-2000 work, which tends to be in a lighter vein than that of their predecessors. With bibliography, a listing of Malaysian works translated into English, and black-and-white photographs.

2011 softback edition of the 1996 introduction to traditional styles of Malay domestic architecture. Colour photographs and architectural drawings of earlier and contemporary houses complement the account of the concepts and functions which have influenced various styles including both the "long-roofed" and "pyramid-roofed" houses, and modern buildings which incorporate traditional features. A "heritage home" in rural Perak is presented as a case study. Glossary, bibliography and index.