Monash University Malaysia | Digital media ethnographer | Digital Public Sphere | Media Literacy and Minority Rights Advocate | He/Him | Cat-dad 🐱
Kuala Lumpur
Joined April 2018
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After 3 years, the book that @jameschin110 and I have been working on is finally out in digital form (Official launch on March 23): New Media in the Margins: Lived Realities and Experiences from the Malaysian Peripheries under Palgrave Macmillan link.springer.com/book/10.10…
ALT Book cover with a young boy running in a field with the Malaysian flag on his back. The book title is "New Media in the Margins: Lived Realities and Experiences from the Malaysian Peripheries", Edited by Benjamin YH Loh and James Chin. The publisher is Palgrave Macmillan
Is it just me or have we stopped using the term Constitutional Crisis to describe these situations? Regardless if you are pro/anti monarchy, these are unprecedented challenges to constitutional roles, so why not call it that?
Or is it because it happens so often, so why bother?
The problem with the Malaysian political space, as others have pointed out, is that we often falsely associate conservatism with being Muslim, but in reality the vast majority of Malaysians are politically conservative & are against feminism. Hence why we don't really have a left
Most Msians have poor political literacy & many just import Americans values here wholesale without critical thinking leading to shallow associations like colour and stolen terms like woke & liberal without proper understanding. This is why formal political education is needed.
Benjamin YH Loh retweeted
The same way that Israelis insist on referring to Palestinians as "Arabs" in order to delegitimise their identity, Myanmar uses the word "Bengali" for Rohingya and claims they are recent squatters from Bangladesh
Myanmar government rejects use of term ‘Rohingya’ in CNA programme, says Rohingya ‘never existed’ as an ethnic identity channelnewsasia.com/singapor…
Benjamin YH Loh retweeted
As much as Malaysians on every side like to complain about the state of the country, the population is very docile. There's a general feeling that all is fine or "not that bad" even as living costs skyrocket, wages don't keep up with inflation, and public healthcare is eroded
This reminds me of that joke a few years ago where Indonesians said they do not respect Malaysians because we never "fought" for our freedom or even did violent revolution.
Malaysians were livid but the Indonesians were right & we even did regime change without violence (TWICE)
Benjamin YH Loh retweeted
Now if we're talking specifically about bumiputera status, then it's a bigger issue. There's always been a great deal of hypocrisy with this one, considering that many non-Malays have Malay ancestry but we're deliberately not considered bumi for political reasons
Benjamin YH Loh retweeted
🔥 Archives of Resistance - Watch. Reflect. Discuss. Remember 🔥
🗓 Sunday, 25 October 2026
🕑 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
📍 Private location (exact location will be shared with confirmed attendees on 23 October 2026)
💵 FREE. RSVP required.
📝 Sign up here: tinyurl.com/RSVPArchivesofRe…
This started as a move to appease the xenophobes but incited the human rights defenders. Now he's trying to allay the latter and so the xenos are pissed again.
Real stupid political gambit meant to appease both sides but just ended up showing how spineless this government is.
Tiada etnik Rohingya di antara 1,476 pelarian Myanmar yang dihantar pulang dari Malaysia pada 29 Sept, kata Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim di Dewan Rakyat hari ini.
Kenyataannya menyusul selepas timbul persoalan mengenai operasi penghantaran pulang itu di tengah-tengah kebimbangan terhadap keselamatan pelarian serta dakwaan bahawa peningkatan kehadiran Rohingya menimbulkan risiko keselamatan negara.
Sumber video: youtu.be/yjQmGtfNEOc
#malaysiakini #malaysianpolitics #fyp #etnik #Rohingya #pelarian #Myanmar #dihantarpulang #Malaysia #PMX #AnwarIbrahim #DewanRakyat #menyusul #persoalan #operasi #penghantaranpulang #kebimbangan #keselamatan #pelarian #kehadiran #risiko #keselamatannegara
Sharing a good piece of writing about the state of Sabah politics, with regards to Warisan and the role they play in the state. This was co-written by my wife and Jo-Anna Rampas. It's a little long but well worth the read if you're interested in Sabah.
#New in the Trends in Southeast Asia Series from #ISEASPublishing - No. 27/26: “Warisan at a Crossroads: Identity, Leadership and Electoral Survival” By Vilashini Somiah and Jo-Anna Sue Henley Rampas. bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/public… iseas.edu.sg/articles-commen… #PartiWarisan #Malaysia
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While I don't deny this is happening, negative criticism and comments is part of doing gov comms. Instead, it's more about how you are able to protect and support your staff by providing access to mental healthcare services.
That's the bigger issue if you fail to provide that.
Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil lamented that his staff members have become deeply affected by comments on social media to the point that they have become depressed.
The PKR information chief said his team works hard to clarify policy decisions, but the public tends to blame Fahmi whenever a message does not land well, even for issues belonging to other ministries or external agencies.
Full story: malaysiakini.com/news/885572…
Here's a Malay translation for this thread:
xitter.gq/ThatBenLoh/status/2102…
Ini adalah penterjemahaan BM bagi ciapan ini:
Kepada yang rasa PM atau mana2 pihak yang “terpaksa” memberi pengampunan tak patut dipersalahkan - ada satu perkara penting yang perlu kita faham.
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Ringkasnya: Sah di sisi undang-undang ≠ automatik beretika. Kritik terhadap cara kerajaan mengendalikan pengampunan tidak semestinya bermaksud menafikan kuasa pengampunan itu sendiri.
Dan inilah bezanya: kita boleh mengakui bahawa ketua negara mempunyai kuasa pengampunan, pada masa yang sama mempersoalkan bagaimana kerajaan mengendalikan dan melaksanakan proses tersebut.
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Itulah sebabnya kuasa pengampunan bukan sesuatu yang patut digunakan sewenang2nya. Kerajaan tetap perlu bertanggungjawab kepada rakyat dan bersedia menjawab kritikan terhadap keputusan yang dibuat.
Contohnya, kalau semua hukuman mati terus diberi pengampunan, ia mungkin sah dari segi kuasa pengampunan, tapi tetapi rakyat juga berhak mempersoalkan dasar tersebut dan kesannya terhadap sistem keadilan.
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Kita menggunakan hujah yang sama utk memohon pengampunan rakyat Malaysia yang dijatuhi hukuman mati di Singapura. Jadi, satu pengampunan boleh jadi sah di sisi undang2, tapi masih boleh dipersoalkan dari segi etika atau penerimaan rakyat.
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Di kebanyakan negara yg memberi kuasa pengampunan kpd ketua negara, ia direka utk menjadi pengecualian kpd proses undang2 biasa. Ia wujud by design & bukan utk menggantikan sistem perundangan, tapi utk memberi ruang kpd belas kasihan, keadaan luar biasa atau kepentingan awam.
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Ini adalah penterjemahaan BM bagi ciapan ini:
Kepada yang rasa PM atau mana2 pihak yang “terpaksa” memberi pengampunan tak patut dipersalahkan - ada satu perkara penting yang perlu kita faham.