Imagined Malaysia

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Imagined Malaysia Founded on 2 April 2016, Imagined Malaysia is a research organisation committed to calling to attention the alternative history of Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

We participate in efforts of creating public awareness and education about the differing narratives and stories that may be omitted from official/master history. This is to not only change our understanding of the nation’s history, but to also deepen and evolve it to have a more inclusive and rich discourse. The crucial point for us to organise this project is to address some of the present concerns regarding historical literacy in Malaysia. There is a lack of contestation in the perspective of historical events taking place at the current moment in the public sphere – whether in the form of writing, lectures or even debates. Hence, we wish to re-popularise interest in attaining knowledge by drawing means of what the region’s intellectual history has to offer. In the long run, we hope that this will be a platform that promotes the role of activist-historians in public education as well as a source of encouragement and inspiration for Malaysian youth to have a critical appreciation for history. For more on what we do, visit https://imagined.my/

📖 Make “History Told through Everyday Objects” your Merdeka Day read!Since January 2025, Malaysia Unbound has explored t...
31/08/2026

📖 Make “History Told through Everyday Objects” your Merdeka Day read!

Since January 2025, Malaysia Unbound has explored the many histories that exist beyond official narratives. In mid-2026, our workshop participants came together to rethink history through personal stories and wider connections of migration, capital, colonialism and (neo)liberal development.

This zine brings together selected presentations and reflections from the workshop, demonstrating the many ways one can participate in the making and understanding of history.

Download your e-copy today. Link: https://imagined-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/azri_farhan_imagined_my/IQBOYlCmx7dPQoobv2Z8M7eJAXMbsNb-u5sti6aJaYitCRU?e=skYCxi

ADDENDUMWe’d like to make the following corrections to the text:1. “For 7 years, Tow Siang Yew flew board China’s war pl...
31/08/2026

ADDENDUM

We’d like to make the following corrections to the text:

1. “For 7 years, Tow Siang Yew flew board China’s war planes” >>> 3 years

2. “To be a radio operator … as a mere 19-year old” >>> 18-year old

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“Above all else, however, Tow’s story illuminates that the act of remembrance itself is never neutral—and that when admission into the terrain of wartime memorial entails the compression of one’s complex humanity into rigid boxes of national allegiance and race...”

Tow Siang Yew was an ordinary man from Swatow (汕头) who migrated to Malaya as a toddler. He made an extraordinary trek from Hong Kong to Chungking (重庆) in a desperate bid to flee the 1941 Japanese invasion, only to re-enter the war in an unexpected twist of fate. For seven years, Tow Siang Yew flew aboard China’s warplanes, not as a pilot, but as a radio operator.

Read his remarkable journey here.

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‘Malaysia Unbound: Transregional Histories through Documents’ is a public education campaign initiated by Imagined Malaysia that explores Malaysia’s transregional connections in the 19th and early 20th centuries through the pages of history, literally.

In 2026, Malaysia Unbound is pivoting towards a participatory research project, funded by the Seed Funding Award, Arts and Humanities Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, partnering with the University of Bristol.

We are now accepting guest contributors for infographics! Interested? Send us an email at [email protected] to get started.

ERRATA NOTICEPlease take note that the correct spelling of the names is:Alfred Russel WallaceJohn van WyheWe apologise f...
04/07/2026

ERRATA NOTICE

Please take note that the correct spelling of the names is:

Alfred Russel Wallace
John van Wyhe

We apologise for the error and thank you to Lim Tze Tshen for bringing this to our attention.

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The peoples and animals of Sarawak were foundational to the development of Alfred Russell Wallace’s Evolutionary Theory, and are now receiving renewed attention in historical scholarship and public art programming.

Malcolm Wong from Interrasa Collective takes us on a journey to unpack this in the latest infographic released under Malaysia Unbound, as we explore their roles and examine how Indigenous knowledge and scientific inquiry converged at the intersection of Western modernity in Sarawak.

Swipe to read more!

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‘Malaysia Unbound: Transregional Histories through Documents’ is a public education campaign initiated by Imagined Malaysia that explores Malaysia’s transregional connections in the 19th and early 20th centuries through the pages of history, literally.

In 2026, Malaysia Unbound is pivoting towards a participatory research project, funded by the Seed Funding Award, Arts and Humanities Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, partnering with the University of Bristol.

We are now accepting guest contributors for infographics! Interested? Send us an email at [email protected] to get started.

Thank you for the overwhelming response! We are grateful for everyone’s support. We have reached our maximum capacity fo...
10/05/2026

Thank you for the overwhelming response!

We are grateful for everyone’s support. We have reached our maximum capacity for the event.

See you all in the evening of 15 May!

Everyday Life in the Malay World through ManuscriptsDate: 15 May, FridayTime: 8pmVenue: Malaysia Design ArchiveHow do hi...
10/05/2026

Everyday Life in the Malay World through Manuscripts

Date: 15 May, Friday
Time: 8pm
Venue: Malaysia Design Archive

How do historical manuscripts shape the worldviews of their contemporary audiences — and of the generations who “rediscover” them centuries later?

As efforts in conservation and digitisation continue to grow, these manuscripts are increasingly recognised as vital cultural and historical resources. Yet beyond these efforts, how can we meaningfully engage with and interpret the knowledge they contain?

Join us as Auf A. Said shares his experiences working with Malay manuscripts and offers insights into uncovering histories, everyday life, and cultural memory through these pages.

Kindly register your attendance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbqQY7OcXV3Whf4qOAysbvTHDlk6emYXypmj6Q4atPQB58Vw/viewform

An interview conducted much later in the life of Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie, the “Minister with Special Functions” unde...
06/05/2026

An interview conducted much later in the life of Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie, the “Minister with Special Functions” under Tun Abdul Razak’s National Operations Council, proved particularly frank. On the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP), Ghazali claimed that he, along with a select group of Malaysian policymakers and legislators, were its key architects, emphasising that “it was all done by us.”

In tandem with Ghazali’s narrative are analyses which frame the sociopolitical developments that led to the formulation of the NEP as occurring solely within a national context. But this is not the case.

Closer scrutiny reveals not only the transnational linkages that brought the NEP into being, but also how it was shaped by geopolitical circumstances and competing ideologies, with institutional afterlives abroad.

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‘Malaysia Unbound: Transregional Histories through Documents’ is a public education campaign initiated by Imagined Malaysia that explores Malaysia's transregional connections in the 19th and early 20th centuries through the pages of history, literally.

We are now accepting guest contributors for infographics! Interested? Send us an email at [email protected] to get started.

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