Page 23 - 022022 PULSE@FASS e-Bulletin

Issue no. 2 | 2022

C O M M U N I Q U E

Academic staff from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences have presented their expert opinions and
viewpoints on topics ranging from natural disasters to social issues and geopolitical equations in the media.
Here are the noteworthy mentions:

Dr Sheeba Chenoli, ‘Using tech to prevent and predict floods.’ The Edge Weekly
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cover-story-using-tech-prevent-and-predict-floods

Dr. Peter T. C. Chang. ‘US must accept Southeast Asia wants China to play central Indo-Pacific role.’ South
China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3180618/us-must-accept-southeast-
asia-wants-china-play-central-indo-pacific

Dr. Jillian Ooi. ‘Underwater meadows: Jillian Ooi merges science and art to save seagrass.’ Malaysiakini.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/619893

Dr. Helena Varkkey and Dr. Michelle Ann Miller. ‘Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia:
What’s peat got to do with it?’ NUS News. https://news.nus.edu.sg/transboundary-haze-in-southeast-asia-
whats-peat-got-to-do-with-it/

Dr. Vilashini Somiah. ‘Women: Not Born to be Leaders.’ Sinar Daily
https://www.sinardaily.my/article/175091/sdtv/wacana/women-not-born-to-be-leaders

Dr. Vilashini Somiah. ‘Sabah's Stateless: Who Are Malaysia's Invisible People?’ CNA new book alert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m16bdskxpmI

Narrating the Nation: Memory, History and

Literature

London. The book explores the process of nation-building
through memory and story-telling. Threads of common
memories weave the fabric of the national culture,
integrating the heterogeneous communities into the idea
of a single nation. In multicultural societies, the process is
a messy one. Different communities remember the past
from perspectives that often contradict and clash with
each other. Multiple memories of a multicultural nation
challenge the idea of a singular national identity and call
for multiple forms of belonging.

Memory and Nation-building book explores the
contemporary images of World War II in Malaysian
literature and the continuing significance of the conflict in
the collective memory and nation-building in Malaysia.

Given the multicultural nature of the nation, the War
memories of Malaysia are multiple and often contradictory.
In contemporary Malaysian literature, these memories
Dr Vandana Saxena from the Department of English embody the search for a historical narrative that would
published her second book Memory and Nation-Building – accommodate the cultural and ethnic diversity of the
World War II in Malaysian Literature with Routledge country.
23 | Pulse @ FASS