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| Srl | Item |
| 1 |
ID:
183815
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| Summary/Abstract |
Drawing on materials from the National Archives of Malaysia, newspapers, literature on historical metrology, and the colonial history of Malaya, this article weaves a social history of Malaya's colonial metrological reform by taking into account the roles of both European and Asian historical actors. Prior to the 1894 reform, people in Malaya used customary scales and weight units, which varied across districts, for commercial transactions. Initiated by colonial administrators, the reform was both welcomed and resisted. In 1897, a riot against the Sanitary Board broke out in Kuala Lumpur for its attempt to mandate that previously exempted traders use only government-verified and -stamped scales. The colonial government managed to maintain order and restore its authority at the end of the riot, but four types of merchants—goldsmiths, silversmiths, opium dealers, and drug sellers—managed to remain exempted. Metrological reform continued to be contested in the following century, but the central concerns of the regulation moved from easing taxation, facilitating cross-district trade, and taming Chinese traders to protecting consumers. More emphasis was placed on educating the public to be able to read scales, in addition to using police force to raid businesses. The enforcement was, however, compromised due to inadequate funds. The reality on the ground contradicts the image of an omnipresent colonial authority and reveals the fragility of colonial administration.
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| 2 |
ID:
193630
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| Summary/Abstract |
Drawing on a variety of material—mass and social media texts, government reports, and everyday observations—this article examines two interrelated dynamics in Malaysia in 2020–2021: the COVID-19 pandemic’s unfolding local trajectory and the short-lived Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition’s governance capacity. Despite political instability resulting from this government’s rise to power following internal political manouevrings, it managed to effectively control a major wave of cases with the help of a centralized healthcare system manned by permanent professional staff and the imposition of coercive measures. Thus, Malaysia’s success in “governing” the early phase of the pandemic is arguably attributable to its strong state infrastructure, notwithstanding the untimely unfolding of this political coup. However, an ideal type approach—that is, concern with state capacity—is inadequate in making sense of subsequent failures to control the pandemic after a state election took place several months later. Using Migdal’s “state-in-society” approach, this article focuses on the political process of pandemic governance to shed light on Malaysia’s shifting state capabilities. Arguably, the resulting shifting responses were mainly shaped by: (1) continuous partisanship; (2) PN’s internal fragmentation; (3) PN’s complacency in initially “flattening the curve”; and (4) poor governance during the state election.
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| 3 |
ID:
154519
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| Summary/Abstract |
Intra-regional medical travel by patients from Indonesia to Penang in Malaysia is embedded in and facilitated by regional circuits. Although such movement is fuelled by dissatisfaction with the health-care services offered in Indonesia, we argue that these contemporary movements for health care are also a continuation of existing exchanges for trade, education and cultural ties that have long existed. In the first part of the paper, we consider the historical interconnections between the locations of Medan and Aceh in Indonesia and Penang in Malaysia. Based upon fieldwork and interviews with 70 intra-regional patients travelling to Penang for treatment, we describe how these interconnections are now manifested in travel for medical care. We argue that the temporary exit from the Indonesian health system to pursue care in hospitals in Penang by some Chinese Indonesians and Acehnese follows patterns and logics based on social histories of discrimination and conflict as well as geographical convenience. This highlights the need to contextualise such travel not just as geographic movements across space but also through the depth of time and local histories.
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