Islam in Malaysia: Perceptions & Facts

Author: Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
Translator: U-En Ng (from the book Mengemudi Bahtera Perubahan Minda)
ISBN: 9789834484576
Pages: 343
Printer: Vinlin
Distributor: Gerakbudaya
Design & Layout: Teck Hee


Price: RM40 (Malaysia) / US$25 (Amazon)


First Printing: December 2010


While still in his 30s, Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, former Mufti of Perlis, earned a reputation as a popular, and sometimes controversial, public intellectual on the subject of Islam in Malaysia.
This collection of his articles seeks to identify and celebrate the true Islamic essence of simplicity, rationality and justice; and to separate it from superstition, prejudice and taklid (blind adherence) to self- serving 'religious' leaders.
Told in a forthright style, but spiced with wit and contemporary allusions, it takes many examples from the Quran and Sunnah to show that it is up to Muslims to rescue their faith from being dominated merely by reactionary and conservative forces.
Among the subjects in this book:
* Are music and entertainment allowed in Islam?
* Why must long-distance bus drivers be discouraged from fasting?
* Are non-Muslims allowed to enter mosques?
* Did the Prophet Nuh pass to us a recipe for porridge?
* Why are some P. Ramlee lyrics more Islamic than contemporary nasyid songs?


Sales Links:

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Orang Macam Kita

Penyunting: Azwan Ismail & Diana Dirani

ISBN: 9789834484569
Mukasurat: 226
Pencetak: Academe
Pengedar: -
Rekabentuk & Rekatelak: Teck Hee

Harga: RM20 (Malaysia) / US$15 (Amazon)

Cetakan Tunggal: Oktober 2010

Sinopsis:

Orang Macam Kita ialah sebuah antologi cerpen dan esei mengenai seksualiti alternatif di Malaysia. Seksualiti alternatif boleh diertikan sebagai homoseksual, biseksual, transeksual, transgender dan dwikelamin. Ini termasuklah gay, lesbian, tomboy, mak nyah dan khunsa. Label-label sebegini mungkin tampak sensasi atau klinikal. Namun cerita-cerita dan kajian-kajian di dalam buku ini mungkin mendedahkan sisi lain, yakni sisi alternatif, daripada tanggapan yang sedia ada. Orang Macam Kita memuatkan 25 karya dengan gaya dan pendekatan yang berbeza-beza: kisah cinta dan penerimaan yang mencuit, cerita pendedahan yang dramatik, kajian mengenai media, sastera dan filem; dan ada yang melayang jauh ke alam surreal. Kepelbagaian ini turut diraikan; tepuk dada tanyalah selera!


* Buku ini tidak dijual di kedai-kedai buku biasa. Pesanan boleh dibuat secara langsung ke info@mataharibooks.com

Pautan Jualan:


Silverfish

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New Malaysian Essays 3

Edited by Yin Shao Loong
ISBN: 9789834484552
Pages: 89 (e-book)
Layout & Typesetting: Liza Manshoor (Eclectic Design)
Cover: Teck Hee

Price: FREE
Sole Edition: September 2010

NEW MALAYSIAN ESSAYS 3 breaks from the norm by being released only as a free e-book! Take notes while Wong Chin Huat teaches you how to become a good demonstrator; take in the conflicted sweep of post-1969 cultural policy with Simon Soon; take a tour of the non-heterosexist nation that Clarissa Lee imagines from Merdeka to the present; and take stock of the situation of Peninsular Malaysia's indigenous people with Mor Ajani. We end with Sumitra Visvanathan inviting us to take refugees into our definition of what 'Malaysia, Truly Asia' could possibly be.

The e-book can be downloaded here!

120 Malay Movies

Author: Amir Muhammad
ISBN: 978-9834484545
Pages: 432 (hardcover)
Layout & Cover: Liza Manshoor (Eclectic Design)
Printer: Vinlin
Distributor: Academe

Price: RM60 / US$40 (Amazon)

First Edition: July 2010
Second Edition: October 2010


120 Malay Movies is a romp through the films that were made in Singapore and then in Kuala Lumpur from 1948 to 1972. (120 represents about a third of all Malay-language films during that period, and this book features most of the famous titles as well as some overlooked gems.) Malaysian writer and filmmaker Amir Muhammad watched them in chronological order and responds to the stories in his own contemporary context. How was the world depicted in those films different from the one we live in today? This book is a serio-comic interrogation into how the iconic fantasies of the past might have unexpected reverberations in the present. The Introduction can be downloaded here.

Sales Links:

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What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You

Subtitle: The Annexe Lectures (Vol. 1)
Author: Farish. A Noor
ISBN: 9789834484538
Pages: 288
Layout & Cover: Liza Manshoor (Eclectic Design)
Distributor: Horizon
Price: RM40 (Malaysia)/ S$26/ US$30 (Amazon)

First Edition: December 2009
Second Edition: December 2009
Third Edition: January 2010
Fourth Edition: April 2010

Farish A. Noor might just be Malaysia's hippest intellectual. His gifts are on full display in these expanded versions of public lectures that he delivered at The Annexe Gallery, Central Market Kuala Lumpur in 2008 and 2009. Find out how 'racial difference' became such a big deal in Malaysia, and contrast this against the way our distant ancestors lived. Discover the hidden stories of the keris, Hang Tuah and PAS. There's also quite a bit of sex. Erudite, impassioned and sometimes plain naughty, What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You is a stimulating plunge into aspects of our past that have been kept from us. There's even a bonus chapter! Illustrated with dozens of sepia-toned photographs, many from the author's collection of antiques. Printed on 100% recycled paper.

Sales Links:
Kinokuniya KL
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Silverfish
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Amazon

Yasmin Ahmad's Films

Author: Amir Muhammad
ISBN: 9789834484507
Pages: 224 + 24 pages of colour photographs
Printer: BS Print
Layout: Teck Hee
Cover Design: Alexdrina Chong
Distributor: Horizon
Price: RM30 (Malaysia) / S$19 (Singapore) / US$20 (Amazon)

First edition: November 2009
Second Edition: May 2010

Yasmin Ahmad left a vibrant legacy, and it is still strange to talk about her in the past tense. In order to deal with his grief, Amir Muhammad, fellow Malaysian filmmaker and friend, watched anew her six feature-length films (Rabun, Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin, Muallaf and Talentime), as well as several of her most popular commercials. Neither an obituary nor a conventional work of film criticism, this book was written just a month after her funeral and is Amir's personal look at the stories, but with quite a few tangents of his own. Chatty and informative, Yasmin Ahmad's Films can be devoured not only by established fans but newcomers to her work. It is also a tribute to one of Malaysia's most amazing daughters. All the writer's royalties from the first edition will be donated to the Mercy - Yasmin Ahmad Fund for Children.

Extract from Chapter 7 is published at the Moving Image Source.

Sales Links:
Kinokuniya KL
Silverfish
Da Huang Pictures
Kinibooks
MPH Online
Times Bookstores
Kinokuniya Singapore
Select Books (Singapore)
Amazon

Buku Untuk Filem: PISAU CUKUR

Lakonlayar: Rafidah Abdullah

Penyunting Buku: Amir Muhammad

ISBN: 9789834484521

Mukasurat: 171 + 12 halaman bergambar

Pencetak: Academe Art & Printing Services

Rekabentuk & Rekaletak: Bright Lights at Midnight

Pengedar: Gerakbudaya

Harga: RM25 (Malaysia) / US$15 (Amazon)

Edisi Tunggal: November 2009

Sinopsis:

Buku ini mengandungi skrip lengkap filem panas Pisau Cukur gandingan Maya Karin & Nur Fazura, serta temubual bersama penulisnya Rafidah Abdullah, pengarahnya Bernard Chauly dan penerbitnya Lina Tan. Apa yang akan terjadi bila mangsa dan pemburu sama-sama terperangkap di atas kapal percutian mewah? Dua orang gadis pisau cukur, Bella dan Intan, bertembung dengan tiga orang Datuk, tiga orang isteri Datuk, dua orang anak Datuk, seorang detektif dan seorang peminat setia Bella. Siapakah yang memburu dan siapa pula diburu? Dalam pelayaran yang penuh kejutan dan kelucuan, apa pun boleh terjadi!

Pautan Jualan:
Kinokuniya KLCC
Silverfish
Kinibooks
Amazon

Buku Untuk Filem: ESTET

Lakonlayar: Mamat Khalid
Penyunting Buku: Ajami Hashim
ISBN: 9789834484507
Mukasurat: 112 + 20 halaman bergambar
Pencetak: Academe Art & Printing Services
Rekabentuk & Rekaletak: Bright Lights at Midnight
Pengedar: Crescent
Harga: RM25 (Malaysia) / US$15 (Amazon)

Edisi Tunggal: Oktober 2009

"ESTET" ialah filem komedi muzikal ala filem-filem Selatan India (Kollywood) yang menceritakan tentang sahabat, cinta dan juga bolasepak. Buku ini mengandungi lakonkayar draf pertama yang amat berbeza dengan filem yang akhirnya dibikin. Juga dimuatkan temubual dengan pengarah dan penulis lakonlayarnya Mamat Khalid serta pengarah forografi Indra Che Muda.

Pautan Jualan:
Kinokuniya (KLCC)
Silverfish

Kinibooks

Amazon

Body 2 Body: A Malaysian Queer Anthology

Edited by Jerome Kugan & Pang Khee Teik

ISBN: 9789834359690

Pages: 240

Printer: BS Print

Layout & Typesetting: Teck Hee

Cover Design: Alexdrina Chong
Distributor: Horizon

Price: RM34 (Malaysia)/ S$22 (Singapore)/ $20 (Amazon)

First Edition: August 2009

Second Edition: September 2009

Body 2 Body: A Malaysian Queer Anthology is the first of its kind: a compilation of original creative writing on the gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and transvestites of the country. Long denied a voice in the mainstream, the queers of Malaysia are boldly and fabulously represented in 23 stories, fiction and non-fiction. From coming out to coming home, breaking up to breaking down, changing sex to changing heart, the stories are different from anything you may have read in – or about – Malaysia.

* The first story can be read right here.

Sales Links:

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Silverfish

Kinokunya (KL)

Kinokuniya (Singapore)
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The Bookshop Darlinghurst (Australia)

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New Malaysian Essays 2

Edited by Amir Muhammad

ISBN: 9789834359683

Pages: 288

Printer: Academe Art & Printing Services

Layout & Typesetting: Liza Manshoor / Eclectic Design

Distributor: Gerakbudaya

Price: RM36 (Malaysia) / US$30 (Amazon)

First Edition: July 2009

Second Edition: August 2009

New Malaysian Essays 2 is bigger and maybe more badass than the first. Shanon Shah squarely faces the politics of religion and Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi critiques 'power architecture', a subject Ridhwan Saidi also handles with witty immediacy. We then take in Amir Sharipuddin's journal of National Service, Yusuf Martin's amusing rant on the Americanisation (or is that Americanization?) of popular culture, Amir Muhammad's views on royalty, Ann Lee's secret history of leprosy, and Danny Lim's photo-essay on our newly-regained love for public demonstrations. As night falls, Andrew Ng and Jac sm Kee play twin tributes to the female undead that not only scare us but help define us.

Sales Links:

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Taxi Tales on a Crooked Bridge

Author: Charlene Rajendran

ISBN: 9789834359679

Pages: 238

Printer: YTP Offset

Layout & Typesetting: Bright Lights at Midnight

Distributor: Horizon (Malaysia & Singapore)

Price: RM28 (Malaysia) / S$17 (Singapore) / US$18 (Amazon)

First Edition: May 2009

Second Edition: June 2009

Charlene Rajendran is one of many Malaysians living in Singapore, and she chooses not to own a car. This book chronicles her conversations with some of the 'driving philosophers' she has met on the hundreds of taxi rides she has taken. Ethnicity, gender, nationhood, religion and more are discoursed in short trips across the island state. Seemingly transient and anonymous, but never lonely, the space of a taxi might be the ideal place for both passenger and driver to ponder the world that is literally passing by. Taxi Tales on a Crooked Bridge is a quirky, lively and often surprising book that also incorporates many photographs. There's no telling what bridges can be built along the way – whether the journey is crooked or straight!

Sales Link:
Kinibooks
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Silverfish
Kinokuniya (Singapore)

Select Books (Singapore)

Amazon