Votes and hopes

Nicholas Farrelly - 05 May, 2013

Even if the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition wins the 2013 Malaysian election, its citizens will come away knowing the dream of a new Malaysia is possible, a Canberra-based Malaysian says.

The result is expected to be the closest ever, with polling ahead of the weekend event showing a 50-50 split between the Government and the Opposition.

Speeches from government ministers imply the powerful, long-ruling Malay elite will rule forever. But as Josh Neoh, a Malaysian born academic now based at ANU points out, the 2013 election is not “a foregone conclusion”.

“It presents us with a choice, it allows us to dream of a new Malaysia, and it challenges us to dream of a new future for Malaysia,” said the law academic.

Read the full article here.

About the Author
Nicholas Farrelly
Dr Nicholas Farrelly is the co-founder of New Mandala. A graduate of the Australian National University and the University of Oxford, over the past 20 years he has undertaken research in Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China and India. Nicholas is Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania and formerly the Associate Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, where he also led the ANU Myanmar Research Centre from 2015 to 2017.
New Mandala is supported by the Australian National University (ANU), a world-leading centre of research and teaching on Southeast Asia that has hosted the site since its founding in 2006. New Mandala's editors make editorial decisions independently of the ANU, and the views expressed at New Mandala are solely those of contributors and do not represent the institutional position(s) of the ANU or any of its constituent parts.
Subscribe to New Mandala

Keep up to date with our distinctive brand of opinionated, informed and accessible commentary on Southeast Asia. Enter your email address in the field below and receive new posts in your inbox as they are published.

Email Address
Latest