Seminar Abstract

East Malaysians abandoned Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14^th General Election (GE14) for a range of reasons including longstanding grievances over the perceived infringements of state autonomy, control of resources, rejection of state political leaders, and federal neglect of the states’ economic development.  Given how East Malaysians were instrumental in bringing Pakatan Harapan (PH) to power, the current government cannot take them for granted. Yet, many of their grievances are not resolved. For instance, the PH government’s early efforts to amend the wording of Article 1 (2) of the Federal Constitution to reflect the autonomous status of Sabah and Sarawak failed.  The seminar will address these issues, highlight some of the possible developments going forward, with a focus on the next Sarawak state elections.

About the Speaker

James Chin is the inaugural Director of the Asia Institute, University of Tasmania. He is also a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Jaffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia, Malaysia.

Professor Chin is a leading commentator on Malaysian and Singaporean politics and has published extensively on Malaysia and the surrounding region. In addition, he works on small island states in the Pacific. He was previously Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore; and Professor of Political Science, Monash University, Malaysia campus. Prior to an academic career, he worked as a journalist in Malaysia and Singapore.