Sanitising and Satanising Malaysia’s Cityspaces: Cultural Power from Malay Decolonialism to Islamic Occidentalism and Beyond

Asian Social Science, Vol. 4, No. 11, pp. 44-52, 2008

9 Pages Posted: 7 May 2009

See all articles by Lim Kim Hui

Lim Kim Hui

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Wai-Mun Har

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)

Date Written: November 2008

Abstract

When difference is seen as conflict, battle for cultural superiority emerged. Agenda of Ketuanan Melayu-Islam (Malay-Islam Supremacy) in Malaysia did not allow pluralism parity or even the existence of it but solitary cultural power. As the cities in Malaysia are the focal point of Western colonial’s capitalism and potpourri of multiculturalism, they resemble the colonisation identities and pluralism, therefore the focus of de-colonisation and “cleansing” un-Islamic elements. The processes of cleansing un-Islamic elements in the city so as to transform colonial Occidental cities to Islamic cities involve sanitisation of Hinduism (and also Chinese) elements and satanisation of Occidental identities. Sanitisation can be categorised into few aspects, namely destroying temples or deities in places of worship, renaming streets or places names, imposing unfair Malay and Islam dominance, and controlling religion freedom. Meanwhile, Western elements are labeled as “Satan”. Specific targeted satanic Western elements ingrained in the city are “money capitalism”, “Western modernity” and “godlessness civilisation”.

Keywords: Cultural power, Malaysia, Islamic Occidentalism, Malay decolonialism, sanitisation, satanisation

Suggested Citation

Hui, Lim Kim and Har, Wai-Mun, Sanitising and Satanising Malaysia’s Cityspaces: Cultural Power from Malay Decolonialism to Islamic Occidentalism and Beyond (November 2008). Asian Social Science, Vol. 4, No. 11, pp. 44-52, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1398364

Lim Kim Hui

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) ( email )

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
UKM Bangi, Selangor 43600
Malaysia

Wai-Mun Har (Contact Author)

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) ( email )

Sungai Long Campus Lot PT 21144
Bandar Sg. Long, Cheras, Selangor D.E.,
Bandar Sungai Long, 43000
Malaysia

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