INDIVIDUAL experiences, though strongly influenced by collective identities, are in essence unique ones. But in Malaysia, where ethnic identity is overpoweringly applied to constrict popular thought and rationalise government policies, the uniqueness of individuals is ignored and devalued – even by the individuals themselves. Paradoxically, the community that has suffered the political ascription of group identity most acutely and most inescapably is the ascribed majority group, the Malays. In this collection of essays edited by Ooi Kee Beng and Wan Hamidi Hamid, nine young writers – Haris Zuan, Wan Hamidi Hamid, Zairil Khir Johari, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, Altaf Deviyati, Izmil Amri, Syukri Shairi, Raja Ahmad Iskandar and Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof – share their individual memories about growing up in Malaysia, and in some cases debate the racial politics in which they – and all Malaysians – seem inextricably caught. "Though Malays in Malaysia are constitutionally bound to be Muslims, many of the writers do not deny that among their forebears are Chinese, Indians and Europeans who practised Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and what have you. As I read their essays, I feel that they write for me as well. My origins are varied too for I have always prided myself on having Indian, Spanish and Acehnese forebears." — Ariffin Omar, Malaysian Senator

Amidst the Chinese-Malay conflict in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, sixteen-year-old Melati must overcome prejudice, violence, and her own OCD to find her way back to her mother.

Elite Malay women’s polygamy narratives are multiple and varied, and their sentiments regarding the practice are conflicted, as they are often torn between personal and religious convictions. This volume explores the ways in which this increasingly prominent practice impacts Malay gender relations. As Muslims, elite Malay women may be forced to accept polygamy, but they mostly condemn it as women and wives, as it forces them to manage their lives and loves under the “threat” of polygamy from a husband able to marry another woman without their knowledge or consent; a husband that is married but available.

Nazi Goreng is a disturbing story of one young Malay man’s comingofage in the big city and offers a stunning portrait of the racial tensions that pervade Malaysian society. Asrul is a fanatical yet naïve Muslim skinhead from small town Kedah, who finds escape in hardcore punk and aspires to life in the big city. After Asrul is recruited by friend Malik to join a neoNazi skinhead gang, the boys move to Penang to realise their racially fuelled teenage dreams. Petty acts of ethnic violence against immigrant workers and minority groups in the name of Kuasa Melayu (Malay Power) earn Asrul limited social empowerment and occasional ridicule, so it is not without trepidation that he follows Malik again, this time into the seedy world of the Malaysian narcotics trade, where selling drugs offers quick money and street respect. Surrounded by corrupt police officials, shifty Iranians, guntoting Nigerians and a sexy drug mule from mainland China, Asrul soon finds himself drawn into a downward spiral that makes him question his friends, his loved ones and his core beliefs. In this intense and gripping debut, Asiabased punk rock guitarist Marco Ferrarese dishes up a powerful portrayal of displaced urban Malay life.