As journalists, writers and public intellectuals we are not entirely innocent actors in society, and we can, and should be held accountable when we purposefully step into active politics. This is not a call for censorship or repression. It is also not to say that the media is somehow not part of society, and that…
Category: Asia
There is no actual evidence of apartheid in Malaysia (Draft)
There have been recurrent charges that Malaysia is an apartheid state. Besides the fact that it is without any factual basis (of truth), it is probably (also) unsurprising that such charges emanate from disaffected individuals or groups of individuals. We see the same tendency in South Africa among people, the settler minority who were invited…
Capital and Privilege buys Belonging. Nice if you can have it
The issue of belonging, of belonging to a country or a people, or a community and even a family is vexing. The issue is belaboured by claims about race, ethnicity, religion, language and (even) skin tone. In South Africa we most certainly have reduced belonging to skin tone, and race. Belonging has a lot to…
Considerations of a Past, Present and Future of Palestinians and the State of Israel
In homes, on the streets across Gaza, Palestinians are sat, drained and disillusioned, and collecting their lives from the rubble and ruins – mute from sensory shock, loss of life, separation and dislocation. Their lives have been changed, fundamentally, in the way that Walter Benjamin described the trauma and poverty experience of the First World…
Please read before proceeding
I have not been posting much on this website. I’m slowly changing that. I am, currently, sharing bits and pieces with people in Malaysia (where I most recently spent time as a Visiting Professor) as part of a geolocation tagging process. I am working on a text on Malaysia; the posts of the past two…
Novel Menu. Kampung Losong Ebeng
Graveyard of boats on Pulau Duyong, Terengganu
I’m working on texts, the chapters on the North East of Malayasia, Kelantan and Terengganu. These are some of the pictures I made. The geolocation tagging function helps identify some of the locations, as well as confirm, so to speak, that I had, actually, visited the places that I am writing about. It’s a fascinating,…
A Photograph: Gone for Solat Maghrib on Pulau Rusa
Gone for Solat Maghrib on Pulau Rusa ©Ismail Lagardien
A Landmark Photo (at least for me)
After a decade or so of wrestling myself over the use of the cellphone camera, in place of an actual camera, I passed something of a landmark in June. I had a photograph published, accompanying a short essay about maritime trade/boat-building in South East Asia. The picture was made with an iPhone. I have had…
Caption Better Captures Moment in a Picture
I never completely bought into the belief that “a picture tells a thousand words”. There are way too many times when a well-crafted caption better captures the moment in a picture. The following picture was made in haste, with an iPhone, at a time when I was still getting used to the camera more than…