Mark Teh, 'Sudden Death' (2009), interview by Rahmat Haron (2013)

This thesis is a study on the significance of independent art spaces on the development of contemporary art practice in Singapore. It is in response to the demise of these spaces despite the surge of activity on the arts scene in recent years. Starting in the late 1990s, the national agenda saw the prioritising of arts development in Singapore through the Renaissance City Plan (RCP). Yet the next decade was marked by the demise of independent art spaces such as Plastic Kinetic Worms (PKW) which closed in 2010 and Post Museum in 2011. While support for the arts from the government is to be lauded, the fading existence of independent art spaces calls for a concern. Through a synthesis of interviews with founders and directors of the space, literature reviews and close readings of materials published under the auspices of those spaces, I argue that it is necessary that these spaces should be an integral part of the art ecosystem in Singapore. This research will also study the contributions and significance of independent art spaces.

New Malaysian Essays 3 (Ed: Yin Shao Loong)

Five principles coupled with real and tentative examples on how to creatively organise protest in authoritarian Malaysia and get away without paying hefty price.

GANGGUAN – An Exhibition by Jun Kit and Tan Zi Hao, 2014

They meandered chattily through various topics, peppering their sentences frequently with Malaysian colloquialisms, code switching with great ease -fleeting from serious political issues to private episodes where personal histories and lives are shared. In many ways, the calendric messages also marked important moments where socio-political issues interject their artistic exploration and introduce new urgencies that then tilt the direction of their practice and the outcome of their artworks.

2010

Art and Research, 2010

Simon Critchley's firm insistence that oppositional political action is still necessary and productive is refreshing when faced with the resignation of several of today's most important political philosophers. Here he talks about his intellectual trajectory, neo-anarchism, his book Infinitely Demanding, his disagreement with Slavoj Zizek and the contemporary interest in St. Paul.

, PAS led the coalition to victory in Kedah, winning 16 seats, while Barisan National won only 14 state seats. This paper highlights cultural dimensions of the shift from BN to the opposition coalition in this state of the Malay heartland. The PAS manifesto and campaign speeches in Kedah emphasized Islamic ethics, a just, clean, and pure government which would strive to improve the conditions of all the people. These notions of a "just" and "unmixed" party struggling to "strengthen Islam" resonated with many Malays in Kedah. In contrast, UMNO was depicted as corrupt practitioners of bribes and money politics who prioritize the interests of the rich over the needy. They were criticized as materialist, elitist figures stuck in their ways like the Pharaoh, while PAS' commitment to upholding Islam was likened to the prophets. In addition, this paper discusses the way PAS approaches the issue of the "social contract" between Malays and other ethnic groups and the way their construct of Malay identity spoke to many Malay voters. I argue that PAS rhetoric must be viewed as more than political use of Islamic symbols, and that its effectiveness rests in the way it evokes more extensive cultural models. Finally, this paper considers the controversial post-election demolition of a pig slaughterhouse in a predominantly Malay kampong in Kota Setar, Kedah. Here I argue that this case embodies and reaffirms the cultural politics of the general election.

2004