Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Saya Pun Melayu

Saya Pun Melayu by Zaid Ibrahim (RM 35.00)

Melalui buku Saya Pun Melayu, pembaca berpeluang untuk memahami dengan lebih jelas siapa Zaid Ibrahim. Kenapa beliau meletak jawatan sebagai menteri dan seterusnya dipecat daripada UMNO yang disertainya sejak 23 tahun, dan juga mengapa sesetengah pemimpin UMNO begitu membencinya sehingga ada yang mendesaknya keluar daripada rumpun Melayu. Anda akan mengetahui rahsia sebalik kritikan beliau terhadap konsep Ketuanan Melayu serta pandangannya berhubung kedudukan Raja-Raja Melayu dari segi undang-undang dan politik. Beliau juga berkongsi pengalaman sebagai anggota kabinet Abdullah Ahmad Badawi serta mengupas sejauh mana kemampuan Najib Tun Razak untuk memulihkan keyakinan rakyat kepada kerajaan.

Other new Malaysian books on the shelf:
Echoes of Silence by Chuah Guat Eng (RM 45.00)
Pasca Manusia by Sufian Abas (RM 10.00)
Perempuan Simpanan published by Sindiket Sol-jah (RM 15.00)
The Headhunters of Borneo by Carl Bock (RM 88.80)
13 May 1969: The Darkest Day in Malaysian History by Leon Comber (RM 33.60)
Raffles: The Definitive Biography by Maurice Collis (RM 44.40)
My Adventure: An Iban Warrior's Autobiography by Robert Rizal Abdullah (RM 39.00)

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

New urban writings

Lonliest ProfessionThe Loneliest Profession in the World by Jerome Kugan (RM 10.00)

The Loneliest Profession in the World collects new poems written by Malaysian Poet and singer songwriter Jerome Kugan. The poems were written between October 2008 and February 2009, and explores the intricacies of relationship, desire and loss. Memory and emotion collide with acerbic wit and humour to produce an often astonishing and affecting look at the nature of love.



Dua LaukDua Lauk - Fiksi Popkon dari Zon Imaginasi Terlarang by Taf Teh & D'Ianadi (RM 20.00)

Fiksi Popkon dari Zon Imaginasi Terlarang, adalah kumpulan cerpen oleh dua orang penulis wanita yang semakin dikenali di dunia maya. Pendek, padat dan penuh imaginasi, fiksyen-fiksyen mereka dijangka akan mencarta koordinat baru dalam peta sastera Malaysia.

"Aku tiba di hadapan 7Eleven. Budak-budak Melayu beruniform merah bergurau senda gembira di kaunter. Seronok ya, dik, dapat kerja dalam ekon?"

Dalam koleksi fiksi dua perempuan ni kerja dalam ekon adalah kemuncak hidup, dan mati itu satu kelegaan.

Kerana, siapa mahu hidup dalam dunia yang dipenuhi kucing-kucing pondan, lipas yang ugut minta ufti, lelaki emo yang suka minum susu stroberi, dan mekap yang buat kau nampak macam robot tak berperasaan.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Lost Times

Lost Times and Untold Tales from the Malay World edited by Jan van der Putten & Mary Kilcline Cody (RM 49.00)

Lost TimesHow did the Komodo dragon influence Hollywood? What do Wanted posters reveal about the Wild Wild East? Was the hapless explorer a martyr to science or a gaseous windbag? Why were colonial officials secret pill poppers? Did bicycles really promoter Women's Lib? Who went looking for love in all the wrong places? What do you do at the Get-Rich-Quick-Tree? The answers to these and many other questions are found in the witty, useful, informative, amusing and sometimes amazing stories that make up this collection.

Inspired by the wry yet deeply scholarly perspective of Australian philologist Ian Proudfoot, the editors of Lost Times and Untold Tales from the Malay World bring together a distinguished group of international scholars who look at calendars and time, royal myths, colonial expeditions, printing, propaganda, theater, art, Islamic manuscripts, erotic literature, and many other topics from wholly unexpected angles. The book demonstrates the spectacular diversity of scholarship on the Malay World, and shows that offbeat texts can produce fascinating new insights into the past.

Also, Silverfish Books is giving away free copies of George Town, World Heritage Site Map produced by UNESCO and World Heritage to anyone interested (while stocks last). Please come early to claim your copy from the bookshop in Bangsar Baru.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Equality and Justice

WANTED: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family edited by Zainah Anwar (RM 28.00)

This unique collection of analytical papers contains the arguments supporting Musawah, the Global Movement for Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family. These resource materials look at why they are necessary given the socio-economic realities of today's Muslim Society.

The collection's strength is that it brings together analysis from a remarkably broad range of disciplines to support rights-based reform of Muslim family laws and the protection of existing rights. These disciplines include: Qur'anic exegesis, fiqh or jurisprudence, socio-legal history and analysis, international human rights law, gender studies, political science, sociology and economics.

Although the contributions are from leading scholars and analysts in the field, the style is designed to be accessible to all who are concerned about the need for equality and justice in the Muslim family.

As a concise resource for the Musawah movement, the book also contains the Musawah Framework for Action, a collectively-developed holistic approach that lays the foundation for the claim that family laws and practice can -- and must -- change to reflect equality and justice and the lived realities of Muslims today.

Monday, February 16, 2009

And the hits keep on rolling

Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things Vol. 2 compiled by Amir Muhammad (RM 25.00)


Test your knowledge on current affairs. Who said the following unforgettable lines?

"
Malaysia has already far too many tigers. They should be shot because there is no use keeping them alive."


"Problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy, What about doing a campaign so that women can accept polygamy?"


"If you come across a snake and a man from a certain ethnic community, you should hit the man first."

The Malaysian politician continues to to be a gift that keeps on giving. Hot on the heels of the best-selling Vol 1 of Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things, this compilation is further proof that we don't need to travel far to experience shock and awe. Join us for another dance through some of the toe-tapping delights of the past two decades. Some of the quotes are witty and pithy, others are weird and prickly, and still others are just out-of-tune. If all History lessons were this painless, none of us would have ever skipped class