Laila’s Lounge was formed in 1998 and is currently based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Originally formed by Hadi (Vocals/Lyricist), Bai (Guitars), Icham (Guitars) and they were later joined by Bulat (Bassist), Sham Daging (Drummer) & Ajeep (Keyboards). They played numerous shows in the late 90s and early 2000, captivating audience with their musical textures and sonic-like soundscapes garnering positive reviews from the general gig going community in the process at that time. But due to a number of personal issues, (including Sham Daging deteriorating mental health) they were sent to nowhere land causing Sham Daging to be replaced by Just as the drummer. After Bulat and Just left the band, they were replaced by Anaz (Bassist) and David (ex-Polythene, now with They Will Kill Us All) joined the band on 2nd Guitars with Icham switching to drums. Later, after several frustrating chain of events, Hadi quit on the band and moved to KL where he joined a local theatre group called Sanggar Karya. Bai, the most influential member of the band then followed Hadi’s suit leaving the band on the verge of an impending breakup. It was not until in the later half of 2004, that Anaz’s passion and determination managed to persuade Bai and Icham to rethink about continuing their musical journey and reform the band. Toya now already part of the band and together they worked on new materials until they were later reunited with Hadi in 2006. -last.fm
Archive | Malaysia
Tags: Malaysia, Music, Song of the Week
Music: Laila’s Lounge (Malaysia)
Posted on 17 April 2013 by Ronald Gilliam
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Tags: Malaysia, Music, Pop, Song of the Week
Music: Ziana Zain (Malaysia)
Posted on 30 January 2013 by Ronald Gilliam
Siti Roziana binti Zin (born May 2, 1968 in Kampung Simpang Merpati, Malacca, Malaysia), known by her stage name Ziana Zain is a Malaysian pop singer-songwriter, model, entrepreneur and actress. Taking the local music scene by storm in the early `90s, Ziana captivated fans with her signature single, Madah Berhelah. Since then, there was no turning back for the Ziana, who mesmerised the music scene with hits like Anggapanmu, Setia Ku Di Sini and Puncak Kasih. Her talent was established internationally when she was crowned Voice Of Asia in Kazakhstan in 1995.
Ziana is the eldest child of Zin Abdullah, a retired police inspector and Robiah Abdul who is a full-time housewife. She received her early education at Shah Alam Primary School and Sultan Abdul Aziz Secondary School. As soon as she finished her secondary school, Ziana worked as a cook in school canteen before working as an operator for 7 months in JVC factory at Shah Alam. She later worked as a cashier in Holiday Inn Shah Alam before she started her career as a flight attendant for Malaysia Airlines for two years.
Zain signed contract to record an album under BMG Asia Pacific (which has now become BMG Music). In 1991, she released her debut album Madah Berhelah. The album sold 40,000 copies and was certified Gold Disk by RIM.
Ziana’s second album, Ziana Zain was released in 1993 and it was certified Platinum for being sold more than 85,000 copies. The album featured one foreign language track, “Chitose Bashi”. The singles of the album included “Anggapanmu” and “Putus Terpaksa”.-last.fm
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Tags: asean, Fellowship, Fulbright, News
Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative
Posted on 23 September 2012 by Ronald Gilliam
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is pleased to announce the FY 2013 competition for the Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative. The Department of State is piloting a small number of regionally competed new awards for Asian Fulbright Scholars and U.S. Fulbright Specialists that will support ASEAN initiatives. The Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative is open to university faculty, government officials, and professional staff of think tanks and other NGOs. There are two parts to this initiative, one for Asians and the other for Americans. 1. Asian Fulbright Scholars: Provides opportunities for travel to the United States for scholarly and professional research on issues central to the U.S.-ASEAN relationship. Award periods are flexible and should be congruent with the needs of the project. The minimum period for an award is three months, the maximum period six months. Awards will provide a monthly stipend for grantees, together with round-trip air travel. 2. U.S. Fulbright Specialists: Provides qualified U.S. faculty and professionals, in select disciplines, to engage in short-term collaborative two to six week projects focusing on the U.S.-ASEAN relationship at host institutions in ASEAN countries. Awards will provide a daily stipend for grantees together with round-trip air travel. Participating host institutions must cover grantee in-country expenses or provide in-kind services for food and housing.
Additional details and instructions for applying to the Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Initiative can be found here.
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Tags: Bookshelf Spotlight, Ecology, Malay Archipelago, Malaysia, Resources, Singapore, Viet Nam
Bookshelf Spotlight: Ecology and Environmental Resources of Southeast Asia
Posted on 02 August 2012 by PR Coordinator
* Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in Protected Areas: Case Studies from the Malay Archipelago
* Clean, Green and Blue: Singapore’s Journey Towards Environmental and Water Sustainability
* Environment and Bioresources of Vietnam: Present Situation and Solutions
* Managing Natural Wealth: Environment and Development in Malaysia
* Rice and Man: Agricultural Ecology in Southeast Asia
| Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods in Protected Areas: Case Studies from the Malay Archipelago |
by Navjot S. Sodhi, Greg Acciaioli, Maribeth Erb and Alan Khee-Jin Tan (Editors)
Cambridge University Press, 2007
Protected areas have emerged as major arenas of dispute concerning both indigenous and environmental protection. In the Malay Archipelago, which contains two of the twenty-five biodiversity hotspots identified globally, rampant commercial exploitation is jeopardizing species and rural livelihoods. While protected areas remain the only hope for the imperiled biota of the Malay Archipelago, this protection requires consideration of the sustenance needs and economic aspirations of the local people. Putting forward the views of all the stakeholders of protected areas – conservation practitioners and planners, local community members, NGO activists, government administrators, biologists, lawyers, policy and management analysts and anthropologists – this book fills a unique niche in the area of biodiversity, and is a highly valuable and original reference book for graduate students, scientists and managers, as well as government officials and transnational NGOs.
| Clean, Green and Blue: Singapore’s Journey Towards Environmental and Water Sustainability |
by Tan Yong Soon, Lee Tung Jean and Karean Tan
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2008
When Singapore became a sovereign state in 1965, the fledgling nation faced very similar problems as most other developing countries: high unemployment, low standard of living, and poor environmental conditions. In a scant four decades, it has become the 6th wealthiest country in the world in terms of per capita GDP and has managed its environment so well that it is now considered to be one of the best in the world. In this remarkable book, Tan Yong Soon authoritatively and objectively analyses how the environmental conditions were radically transformed within this period, and the enabling conditions which made this extraordinary transformation possible. This book will unquestionably make all Singaporeans proud of their environmental achievements, and at the same time enable other countries, both developed and developing, to learn many lessons from a most remarkable success story. This book is a must read for any individual interested in environment-development issues. -Prof Asit K. Biswas, President, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore.
| Environment and Bioresources of Vietnam: Present Situation and Solutions |
by Cao Van Sung
The Gioi Publishers, 1998
Covers ecosystem, pollution and protection of the environment in Viet Nam.
| Managing Natural Wealth: Environment and Development in Malaysia> |
by Jeffrey R. Professor Vincent and Rozali Professor Mohamed Ali
Resources for the Future, 2005
The remarkably rich natural environment of Malaysia attracts the interest of both industry and the environmental community. Managing Natural Wealth analyzes major natural resource and environmental policy issues in the country during the 1970s and 1980s-a period of profound socioeconomic change, rapid depletion of natural resources, and the emergence of serious problems with pollution. Managing Natural Wealth is an important up-date to Environment and Development in a Resource-Rich Economy: Malaysia under the New Economic Policy. First published in hardcover in 1997, this path-breaking book emphasized economics as a source for analyzing the issues involved in environmental and natural resource management in developing countries. The access that Jeffrey Vincent and Rozali Mohamed Ali and the contributing authors had to unpublished data and key decision-makers made their account an essential reference for policymakers and researchers in Malaysia and throughout the globe. Managing Natural Wealth includes a review of key developments since the 1990s by S. Robert Aiken and Colin H. Leigh, two geographers with a long-standing interest in environmental change in Malaysia and an understanding of the institutional context of its environmental policy that is unmatched in the scholarly community.
| Rice and Man: Agricultural Ecology in Southeast Asia |
by L. M. Hanks
University of Hawaii Press, 1992
“A classic not only of anthropology and Southeast Asian studies, but of the human sciences.” –Michael Moerman, University of California, Los Angeles
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Tags: Art, Cinema, Culture, History, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam
Bookshelf Spotlight: History, Culture and Art in Southeast Asian Cinema
Posted on 11 July 2012 by PR Coordinator
* A Century of Thai Cinema
* Cinema of the Philippines: A History and Filmography, 1897-2005
* Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen
* Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures
* Vietnamese Cinematography: A Research Journey
| A Century of Thai Cinema |
by Dome Sukwong and Sawasdi Suwannapak
River Books Press, 2006
Thais began shooting films in 1900; cinema soon became a very popular form of entertainment, which had its “golden age” in the 1930s. This book provides both a history of Thai cinema and a visual record of all the associated memorabilia, including movie posters.
| Cinema of the Philippines: A History and Filmography, 1897-2005 |
by Bryan L. Yeatter
McFarland, 2007
Although Filipino cinema dates to the early silent era and shares many characteristics with Western film, it has been frequently ignored by Western critics and audiences. This book offers a rare study of cinema in the Philippines. The first half of the work presents the little-known history of Filipino cinema. Arranged chronologically, chapters cover lost pre-World War II films, the postwar cinema boom, the Philippines? unique relationship with the United States and its manifestation on film, and Filipino cinema’s current decline. The second half of the book is the most comprehensive published filmography of Filipino cinema to date.
| Indonesian Cinema: National Culture on Screen |
by Karl G. Heider
University of Hawaii Press, 1991
A film-goer accustomed to the typical Hollywood movie plot would feel uneasy watching an Indonesian movie. Contrary to expectations, good guys do not win, bad guys are not punished, and individuals do not reach a new self-awareness. Instead, by the end of the movie order is restored, bad guys are converted, and families are reunited. Like American movies, Indonesian films reflect the understandings and concerns of the culture and era in which they are made. Thus Indonesian preoccupations with order and harmony, national unity, and modernization motivate the plots of many films. Cinema has not traditionally been within the purview of anthropologists, but Karl Heider demonstrates how Indonesian movies are profoundly Indonesian. Produced in the national language by Indonesians from various regions, the films are intended for audiences across the diverse archipelago. Heider examines these films to identify pan-Indonesian cultural patterns and to show how these cultural principles shape the movies and, sometimes, how the movies influence the culture. This anthropological approach to Indonesian film opens up the medium of Asian cinema to a new group of scholars. “Indonesian Cinema” should be of interest to social scientists, Asianists, film scholars, and anyone concerned with the role of popular culture in developing countries.
| Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures |
by William van der Heide
Amsterdam University Press, 2002
This monograph departs from traditional studies of national cinema by accentuating the intercultural and intertextual links between Malaysian films and Asian (as well as European and American) film practices. Using cross-cultural analysis, the author characterizes Malaysia as a pluralist society consisting of a multiplicity of cultural identities. Malaysian film reflects this remarkable heterogeneity, particularly evident in the impact of the Indian and Hong Kong cinema.
Detailed analyses of a selection of Malaysian films highlight their cultural complexities, while noting the tension between cultural inclusivity and ethnic exclusivity at the heart of this cinema.
| Vietnamese Cinematography: A Research Journey |
by Many Authors
The Gioi, 2007
This Collection of research on Vietnamese Cinema has been selected from articles published in the Magazine of Culture and Art from 1973 to 2006, and deals with issues ranging from the films themselves to films history, copyright law, socialization, development, aesthetics, semiotics, and management. In this Collection, we have included only articles (a grand total is 90) about feature films. For convenience, these articles have been divided into five sections, basing on their primary content: 1 – Historical documentation. 2 – Art form in outline. 3 – Methodology & style. 4 – Interactions with other art forms. 5 – Film criticism. Obviously, this classification is a relative, since many articles have content that overlaps these categories.
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Tags: Bali, Bookshelf Spotlight, Burma, Cambodia, Dance, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines
Bookshelf Spotlight: Dance in Southeast Asia
Posted on 19 June 2012 by PR Coordinator
* Burmese Dance and Theatre
* Dance in Cambodia
* Balinese Dance, Drama and Music: A Guide to the Performing Arts of Bali
* Sharing Identities: Celebrating Dance in Malaysia
* Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance
| Burmese Dance and Theatre |
by Noel F. Singer
Oxford University Press, 1996
This handy and colorful little book traces the history of dance and theatre in Burma in the courts and countryside, and describes the various dances, plays, and musical accompaniment that evolved as a result of the country’s cultural and religious mix and its changing political circumstances.
| Dance in Cambodia |
by Toni Samantha Phim and Ashley Thompson
Oxford University Press, 2000
Cambodian dance lies at the heart of Khmer cultural identity. Dance in Cambodia introduces the reader to the universe of Cambodian dance as it is practiced today, and to the powerful creative force dance has maintained in Cambodia for more than a thousand years.
| Balinese Dance, Drama and Music: A Guide to the Performing Arts of Bali |
by I Wayan Dibia, Rucina Ballinger and Barbara Anello
Tuttle Publishing, 2011
Balinese Dance, Drama and Music is a lavishly illustrated introduction to the most commonly seen forms of traditional performing arts in Bali: gamelan music, dance, drama and puppetry. It presents the history and function of each performance genre, and is enhanced with a bibliography, a discography and over 150 specially prepared watercolors of Balinese performers and performances.
| Sharing Identities: Celebrating Dance in Malaysia |
by Mohd Anis Md Nor and Stephanie Burridge
Routledge, 2011
This anthology celebrates dancing diversities in Malaysia, a multicultural nation with old and not-so-old dance traditions in a synchronicity of history, creativity, inventions and representation of its people, culture and traditions. These articles and interviews document the legacy of dances from the Malay Sultanates to a contemporary remix of old and new dances aspired by a melange of influences from the old world of India, China, European and indigenous dance traditions. This gives forth dance cultures that vibrate with multicultural dance experiences. Narratives of eclecticism, syncretic and innovative dance forms and styles reflect the processes of inventing and sharing of dance identities from the era of the colonial Malay states to post-independence Malaysia.
| Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance |
by Basilio Esteban S. Villaruz
University of Hawaii Press, 2007
Treading Through is the first reader in Philippine dance, observed through forty-five years of viewing, reviewing, and doing. It is one observer’s understanding of what, where, and how dance, and who makes it and why we dance.
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