[Book Launch/Seminar] Anwar Ibrahim: Tenacious in Dissent, Hopeful in Power
Details
Date: 25 April 2024, Thursday
Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm
Venue: Penang Institute, 10 Brown Road, 10350 George Town
Moderator: Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
About the book:
In September 1998 Anwar Ibrahim was a political prisoner with a blackened eye. In November 2022 he became the Prime Minister after outmaneuvering his influential ethnoreligious opponents through a parlous condition of Malay politics. He had disdained comfortable irrelevance to rouse indignant masses against the regimes of five prime ministers who ruled structures which fused state, party and class power. Anwar’s transformation in the 21st century relied on anti-corruption campaigns that used his charismatic and chameleonic personality, and his complex ideas on Islam, a humane economy, coalition politics, and a reimagination of society. Now he leads a large Unity Government coalition of which the deposed political hegemon, UMNO, is only a subordinate partner. Using biography, history and politics, this book explores how a tenacious but hopeful Anwar seeks to transform society at an unsteady moment of Malaysian politics.
About the author:
Khoo Boo Teik is Professor Emeritus, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, and Research Fellow Emeritus, the Institute of Developing Economies, Chiba, Japan. Besides Anwar Ibrahim: Tenacious in Dissent, Hopeful in Power, he is also the author of The Making of Anwar Ibrahim’s “Humane Economy”, The Unrealized Mahathir-Anwar Transitions: Social Divides and Political Consequences, and Malay Politics: Parlous Condition, Continuing Problems, as well as various other prominent books on Malaysia’s political sphere.
Discussants:
Azmil Tayeb is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang. He has done extensive research on political Islam, social movements and local government politics, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and an Adjunct Professor at Universitas Negeri Malang in East Java, Indonesia. He is the author of Islamic Education in Indonesia and Malaysia: Shaping Minds, Saving Souls (Routledge, 2018). He is also the co-editor of Education and Power in Contemporary Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2023).
Yeong Pey Jung is a Senior Analyst attached to the Socioeconomics and Statistics Programme at Penang Institute. She holds a Master of Business (Economics) from Swinburne University of Technology and a double degree in Arts (Political Science and Psychology) and Commerce (Economics) from the University of Melbourne. Her main research work includes gender studies, with a special interest in the political representation of women as well as socioeconomic issues of women, youth development, and minority marginalisation.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
EVENT SUMMARY
Professor Khoo Boo Teik Unveils Latest Book on Anwar Ibrahim’s Political Odyssey
Renowned scholar Professor Emeritus Dr Khoo Boo Teik has recently launched his much-anticipated book titled Anwar Ibrahim: Tenacious in Dissent, Hopeful in Power. This literary work meticulously traces the 50-year journey of Anwar Ibrahim, from his days as a fervent nationalist university student to his current position as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The book launch event in 25 April 2024 at Penang Institute featured enlightening discussions with esteemed panelists, including Associate Professor Dr Azmil Tayeb from the Department of Political Science at USM and Yeong Pey Jung, a Senior Analyst affiliated with the Socioeconomic and Statistics program at Penang Institute. Emphasizing the book’s distinctive attribute of presenting a relatively neutral perspective on the Prime Minister, the panelists underscored its exploration of both the successes of Anwar’s policies and areas requiring further deliberation or adjustment for the nation’s progress.
For those eager to delve into Khoo Boo Teik’s insightful perspective and interpretation of Anwar Ibrahim’s tenure and the prospective trajectory of Malaysian politics, the book is now available for purchase. Secure your copy today to gain valuable insights into one of the most prominent figures in Malaysian political history.