Journal of Ethnic and Diversity Studies (JOEDS)

Sebuah Ulasan Buku: Lim Swee Tin. 2002. Berkelana di Belantara Kata. Penerbitan Pustaka Nusa Sdn Bhd.

Syauqi Arshad — 2025-11-26

Buku yang membawa tajuk ‘Berkelana di Belantara Kata’ ini merupakan suatu penghasilan catatan kehidupan peribadi Lim Swee Tin dalam tiga dekad menelusuri alam sastera. Sebuah kumpulan tulisan yang jujur dan telus yang merangkumi pengenalan dan keterangan diri, pemerhatian, kritikan, dan juga pengharapan dalam industri persuratan sastera dalam negara. Dalam tulisan beliau juga kita dapat menjenguk ke dalam ruang perkembangan sastera melayu melalui kaca mata yang dipinjamkan, dapat juga kita sesekali meninjau ke jendela seorang penyair yang arif tentang selok-belok birokrasi penerbitan karya kreatif di Malaysia. Seterusnya, Lim Swee Tin memperlihatkan tentang kepelbagaian dan kedinamikan etnik penyair dalam salah satu makalah, di samping peranannya sebagai pemuisi dari etnik minoriti dalam sastera Melayu. Secara keseluruhannya, buku ini menawarkan eksplorasi idea dan kefahaman yang bermutu tinggi dalam perjalanan seorang penyair dalam dunia sastera Melayu yang divisualisasikan dalam penulisan santai.

Film Review: "The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon" (2023):

Jiaying Lan — 2025-11-25

In the 2024 Taiwanese film "The Pig, The Snake, and The Pigeon" (Chinese title: "Zhou Chu Gets Rid of the Three Evils"), the story follows Chen Guilin, a charismatic gang member, who abandons his life of crime to become a celebrated hero in Chinese culture. The film depicts Chen Guilin's complex identity layers and his transformation from a despised gang member to a revered figure of chivalry. The Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) posits that communication is identity and identity is communication, highlighting four identity layers: personal, relational, enacted, and communal. Inconsistencies, tensions, and conflicts within these layers are identified as identity gaps and sources of dynamic identity change. This paper will apply the CTI framework to analyze the character of Chen Guilin. Research shows that the existence and dynamic changes in identity gaps are closely linked to the cultural environment in which the character resides. This study emphasizes the cultural conditions influencing the dynamic nature of identity gaps within the context of Chinese culture, demonstrating both the general applicability and unique characteristics of CTI in such an environment. Distinct aspects of Chinese culture fundamentally shape the presence and disappearance of Chen Guilin's identity gap.

Book Review: The Psychology Of Money By Morgan Housel:

Krishna Baskaran — 2025-11-25

This review examines Morgan Housel's “The Psychology of Money,” emphasizing its core topics of behavioural finance, risk, and emotional decision-making. It underscores the book's significance in the current era and contextualises its ideas within Malaysia, emphasising saving culture, generational perspectives, and financial taboos. The review offers an in-depth evaluation of the book’s strengths and weaknesses, highlighting its accessibility, psychological complexity and relevance.

Kerjasama Pakatan Harapan–Barisan

Muhammad Azzubair Awwam Mustafa — 2025-11-25

This article analyses the electoral cooperation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) after the 15th General Election (PRU15), focussing on state elections and by-elections.This study uses a qualitative approach and is analysed based on the theory of political consensus (Lijphart, 1969) and political realism (Morgenthau, 1948) to understand the dynamics and effectiveness of this cooperation.The study findings indicate that the PH-BN cooperation is more tactical in nature and does not reflect a deep form of consensus.DAP maintains strong support while UMNO experiences a decline, particularly in majority Malay areas.This cooperation also does not involve all BN component parties, as UMNO is the only BN component party that benefits from this cooperation.However, this cooperation plays an important role in ensuring short-term stability and providing competition to Perikatan Nasional.This study contributes to the academic discourse on the evolution of coalition politics in the increasingly complex Malaysian political landscape.

Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA):

Ab Bassit Husain — 2025-11-25

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis amanah-amanah yang telah dipertanggungjawabkan kepada Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) dalam rancangan-rancangan pembangunan Malaysia. Sebagai sebuah agensi yang ditubuhkan untuk mempercepatkan proses pembangunan ekonomi khususnya dalam kalangan masyarakat Bumiputera, MARA telah diberikan amanah-amanah penting untuk membantu mencapai matlamat pembangunan negara. Kajian ini meneliti mengenai transformasi amanah-amanah yang telah diberikan yang bersesuaian dengan matlamat semasa pembangunan negara. Penyelidikan ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan menganalisis dokumen rasmi rancangan-rancangan Malaysia. Dapatan kajian ini dijangka memberikan gambaran menyeluruh tentang amanah-amanah yang telah diberikan kepada MARA dalam mencapai matlamat pembangunan negara. Hasil daripada kajian ini juga diharap dapat memberi saranan untuk meningkatkan keberkesanan program-program MARA dalam memperkasa ekonomi dan sosial masyarakat Bumiputera di masa hadapan.

Living Funerals as an Emerging Ritual:

Ming She Fan — 2025-12-03

This study explores how the Malaysian Chinese community perceives and responds to the concept of living funerals, an emerging ritual that has sparked public interest amid shifting attitudes toward death. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a framework, it investigates how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control shape individuals’ intentions toward this practice. Through semi-structured interviews with 12 Generation Z participants and thematic analysis, the findings reveal that while cultural taboos and limited social support remain challenges, many view living funerals as a meaningful, reflective practice. Personal beliefs and psychological readiness often outweigh external pressures in shaping willingness to consider such rituals. This research offers new insights into death-related behaviours and beliefs in a multicultural context.

Global Migration and Japan’s Framework for Ethical Recruitment

Saeko NODA — 2025-11-25

The research aims to analyse Japan’s experience towards fair migration and ethical recruitment in the context of global migration challenges. The United Nations has implemented a variety of global initiatives that acknowledge the significance of fair migration in the prevention of debt bondage, exploitation, and forced labour. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is crucial for the effective management of global migration. SDG 10 emphasises the reduction of disparities between and within nations, and Target 10.7 is specifically designed to facilitate responsible, safe, and orderly migration. One of the indicators of safe migration is the payment of recruitment costs by employers rather than foreign labourers (Indicator 10.7.1). This paper examines the programmes of the Japanese government, remediation of recruitment fees by companies in Japan, and bilateral efforts by JICA in safeguarding migrant rights and achieving zero-cost migration. A new program called Ikusei Shūrō (Training and Employment) will be introduced to address issues of ethical recruitment in transnational labour migration, along with initiatives by socially responsible companies. The findings suggest that Ikusei Shūrō program includes measures to improve conditions for ethical recruitment, but its actual implementation is still awaited. In addition, business communities, such as Responsible Business Alliance（RBA）member companies, have begun taking concrete steps toward the ethical recruitment of migrant workers — including the prohibition of worker-paid recruitment fees — yet full implementation throughout the lower tiers of the industrial supply chain remains to be achieved.

Living Heritage:

Alice Sabrina Ismail — 2025-12-06

The Jawi Peranakan community, descended from intermarriages between Malays and South Asian Muslims—primarily from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Gujarat, and in some cases from Yemen or other parts of the Arab world—represents a unique cultural hybrid whose heritage is vividly expressed through its architecture and communal spaces. Despite their significant role in shaping Malaysia’s urban and architectural history, scholarly inquiry into the integration of Jawi Peranakan intangible values within the built environment remains scarce. Existing heritage conservation frameworks tend to prioritise the preservation of physical structures, often overlooking the socio-cultural systems and values that sustain these spaces as living heritage. This oversight risks eroding the cultural meanings embedded in architectural forms, particularly under the pressures of rapid urban development and socio-economic change. This study addresses this gap by examining how Jawi Peranakan values are materialised in the built environment, framing their architecture as a dynamic form of living heritage. Adopting a qualitative descriptive approach within the interpretive anthropology paradigm and employing semiotic and hermeneutic methods, the research explores the symbolic meanings embedded within key communal structures, such as mosques and houses, which are historically associated with the community. The findings reveal that their architectural expressions integrate Malay vernacular typologies with Indo-Islamic decorative motifs, while spatial configurations embody core communal values: kinship, religious devotion, reciprocity, and economic solidarity. Multi-functional halls, open courtyards, and transitional spaces in mosques and houses that facilitate both ritual and social interaction, reinforcing extended family networks and collective identity. By interpreting these architectural features as physical embodiments of intangible cultural values, the paper underscores the resilience of Jawi Peranakan heritage amidst modernisation. The study contributes to a wider discourse on multicultural heritage preservation, identity construction, and sustainable urbanism in Southeast Asia, advocating for design frameworks on cultural values that embrace both tangible and intangible dimensions of Jawi Peranakan architecture heritage.

Bandaraya Islam Sebagai Ruang Sakral:

Hazman Abd Kadir — 2025-12-03

Mircea Eliade dalam karyanya “The Sacred and The Profane” membezakan antara ruang yang ‘sakral’ dan ruang ‘duniawi’. Ruang sakral dilihat sebagai ruang yang mempunyai realiti dan makna yang mempunyai unsur-unsur ketuhanan, dan ghaib, manakala ruang duniawi ialah ruang yang ‘kacau’ dan asing daripada unsur-unsur kesakralan. Karangan ini membincangkan sejarah serta tindakan Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan dalam melaksanakan Bandaraya Islam sebagai Ruang Sakral dengan menggunakan kerangka ruang sakral dan duniawi oleh Mircea Eliade. Karangan ini memperlihatkan perkembangan pemaknaan terhadap ruang sakral Islam di Kota Bharu, serta cabaran dan keterbatasan terhadap usaha tersebut dalam mendepani arus kemodenan. Perbincangan karangan ini menunjukkan bahawa pembentukan Bandaraya Islam bukan dilihat dalam konteks pihak berkuasa tempatan atau Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan itu sendiri, tetapi juga dalam kalangan masyarakat Kota Bharu.