Richard Baxstrom. Houses in Motion: the Experience of Place and the Problem of Belief in Urban . Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008. ix + 283 pp. $55.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8047-5891-8.

Ross King. and : Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia. Honolulu: Asian Studies Association of in association with University of Hawaii Press, 2008. xxviii + 321 pp. $29.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-8248-3318-3.

Reviewed by Frank Chua

Published on H-Urban (May, 2011)

Commissioned by Alexander Vari (Marywood University)

The urban arena of Kuala Lumpur, like many sions may not be adequate or congruent with oth‐ contemporary Asian urban spaces, is a mixture of er simultaneous conceptual directions and fur‐ new clean lines of skyscraper modernity with its ther developments typically followed; in another highly ordered spaces and the haphazard chaotic particular instance, , which is the physi‐ sprawl of less developed and older communal sec‐ cal manifestation of Malaysia’s conceptualized tions. The latter are continuously being redevel‐ frame of techno-media imagined space, the Multi‐ oped to renegotiate them into the larger vision media Super Corridor. and trajectory of city planners. The political and Typical of newly industrialized economies, religious ethos of the country may sometimes test the pace of such urban renewal and development the geographical and cultural limits of the historic often exceeds the capacities of local communities city, and a resulting development would be the to accommodate such rapid changes within their creation of another completely new urban space; cultural memory, and sweeping physical and ma‐ in this context, Putrajaya, which is an indigenous terial changes of the landscape are often more jar‐ and Islamic urban identity. Even so, such expan‐ ring and dislocating rather than being simply in‐ H-Net Reviews convenient. The Indian neighborhood of Kuala half of chapter 1, “The Founding of Brickfelds,” Lumpur’s suburban Brickfelds is a prime exam‐ and chapter 2, “The ,” explain ple, as residents responded in a variety of ways to the historical context and the origins of Brick‐ accept, accommodate, negotiate, reform, or even felds. In the second half of chapter 3, “Law, Jus‐ reject outright the morphological changes and tice, Disappearance,” chapter 4, “Strangers, Coun‐ physical disruption to their everyday experiences. terfeiters, and Gangsters,” and chapter 5, “Am‐ These intrusions were often viewed as an assault bivalent Encounters in the City,” the focus is on on their past collective memories of their concep‐ the legal process, concepts of justice, and every‐ tual identities of home and place. Houses in Mo‐ day experiences in Brickfelds between 2000-02. tion records these challenges and the humanistic As the author notes, the purpose of the book is to responses to such encroachments within the his‐ study how the residents engaged and defned torical and multicultural interstices of Brick‐ themselves even though many were excluded felds’s populace. Likewise, Kuala Lumpur and Pu‐ from the processes of the policies that governed trajaya, albeit through an architectural and ur‐ their neighborhood. ban studies perspective, sieves the dynamics of King’s Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya also in‐ history, politics, race, and religion in the growth volves groundwork which literally led him to the and design of Malaysia’s most vibrant urban cen‐ streets but this is a smaller contribution to his ters. Both works establish the connection between study. Having access to interviews with city plan‐ societies and their places of work, home, and ev‐ ners, academics, architects (the author’s profes‐ eryday living, and provide the reader with a bet‐ sion), and corporate executives contributed to a ter understanding of the residents’ adaptation to more sweeping vista of the changing and transito‐ their changing domains as well as a conceptual ry nature of urban landscapes. The author’s anal‐ framework of spatial and architectural evolution ysis and interpretation of historical forces as well of Malaysia’s urban landscapes. as more recent political and religious/ethnic de‐ In Houses in Motion, the bulk and core of velopment amongst the bumiputras (sons of the Baxstrom’s study focuses on the ethnographic soil) or indigenous Malays, provides an awareness feldwork among Brickfeld’s residents over a of the tensions and angst that still pervade the spread of fourteen months which was done over cities’ atmospheres today, especially on issues of two periods of residencies. His fndings were not race. These together with his trained observations only culled from ninety ethnographic interviews of the designs and architecture of the grandiose with ffty-three people ranging from one to nine public monuments plus the spatial layout of the hours, but also from less formal participation in land and cityscapes, tease multiple themes and public activities and frequent casual conversa‐ symbolisms of various cultural forces that have tions. These nonetheless provided localized access shaped the evolution of these two cities. to often sensitive but yet open discussions that The book is divided into fve parts: chapter 1, gave a more intimate connection to his subjects. “The Phenomenal City,” refects on the diversity Despite the general view that Brickfelds is an In‐ and fuidity of Kuala Lumpur where multiple dian enclave, the population pool is less homoge‐ meanings and tensions could be read in its archi‐ neous and more diverse, and the author’s inter‐ tecture and urban spaces; chapter 2, “The Contest‐ viewees included Chinese, Malays, and even Pak‐ ed City,” discusses in greater detail the politics of istanis from wide-ranging socioeconomic back‐ race relations in the social production of urban grounds. The book itself is divided into two broad space where the hegemony of Chinese capitalism areas covering the history of Brickfelds and the in Kuala Lumpur is a constant concern to the in‐ daily living experiences of its residents. The frst

2 H-Net Reviews digenous but less urbanized Malays; chapter 3, on what is seen as the invasive threat of the Chi‐ “The Imagined City,” sees the creation of a unique nese immigrants and their economic domination. Malay urban sphere, Putrajaya, and the participa‐ Also citing heavily from Mahathir’s The Malay tion of Malaysia in techno-media industries in the Dilemma, and the implications of a racially divid‐ development of Cyberjaya and the Multimedia Su‐ ed society, King observes that the economic clout per Corridor; chapter 4, “The Forgotten City,” de‐ of the Chinese and their historical and current do‐ bates the preference toward a Middle East orien‐ minion over Kuala Lumpur are challenged and tation in Putrajaya’s creation at the expense of countered in the spatial development of the new earlier and more localized Malay culture; and urbanscapes. The Chinese capital accumulation chapter 5, “The Metamorphic City,” witnesses the and entrenched positions as captains of industry ongoing evolution of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have fnancially enabled them to claim Kuala and the diferent forces that are still contesting Lumpur, the , as a predominantly Chi‐ for infuence and space. As the author notes, their nese hold. This spatial control prompted the fnal products are incomplete and it remains to be Malays to assert themselves as a unifying bangsa seen whether pluralistic Kuala Lumpur or Malay- Melayu (Malay race) that is synonymous with the Islamic Putrajaya will represent the future of negara (nation). Malaysia. A point worth noting is that this assertion of A common theme in both works is the pivotal Malay identity and race is fundamentally fawed. role of in shaping the identity of the emerg‐ As argued in Benedict Anderson’s and Edward ing modern Malay state. Noting of its urban ori‐ Said’s works, “imagined communities” of nations gins, Baxstrom refers to the dakwah movement as and races are constructions of European cultural “an assemblage of ideas, trends, activities, and or‐ imaginations in the nineteenth century.[1] Histori‐ ganization that seek to promote Islam” (p. 73). cal sources point otherwise that the Malay Penin‐ Heralding a return to the golden age of Islam, this sula people are actually made up of Minangk‐ renaissance movement adhered to the Arab mod‐ abaus, Bugis, Achehnese, Banjarese, and others. In el of Islam over local religious institutions and the aftermath of the 1969 racial riots, public mon‐ adat (customs). However, then Prime Minister uments symbolizing Malay nationalism became Mohammad Mahathir also played an increasingly urgent and, inspired by the earlier Muzium Ne‐ active role in Malay-Muslim identity by announc‐ gara (National Museum), more modernist but ing the historical legacy of and Malay-infuenced architecture took root; the its relevancy to not just matters of faith, but also and Menara Maybank were in areas of science, economy, and technology. Cit‐ exemplary. This Malayanization of public monu‐ ing his 1986 discourse on Islam, The Challenge ments was further expanded to sprawling Shah and the earlier 1970 The Malay Dilemma, Ma‐ Alam which was seen as an idyllic escape from hathir asserted that true Islamic observances the more congested Chinese-dominated Kuala should preside over indigenous adat of polytheis‐ Lumpur. There, the ornamental lake and the Sul‐ tic origins. The government’s active debate and fo‐ tan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque would cus on Islam’s role in Malaysian society nonethe‐ demonstrate how not just public monuments but less made non-Muslim and non-Malay communi‐ urban space themselves could be claimed by the ties like Brickfelds more wary of articulating a Malay . substantial stake in local governance. However as the author notes, Kuala Lumpur King’s interpretation of the role of Islam cen‐ itself is not strictly Chinese as contrasted with Pu‐ ters more on historical forces of race, particularly trajaya which has defned itself as Malay-Islamic.

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Kuala Lumpur is more open in bringing the races dian, or Chinese historical roles would also not be together, especially in her shopping malls. There retained or remembered. This is not true however are churches, mosques, and Chinese and Indian of the more recent Western infuences. Putrajaya’s temples scattered throughout the city. Such inclu‐ architecture renders a confuence of Islamic ori‐ siveness could also be seen in Brickfelds. The gins as well as Western modernism. It is both Mid‐ large Chinese communities which have estab‐ dle Eastern and Western in conceptualization and lished themselves since colonial times, albeit in this is refective of the nation’s institutional inse‐ their ethnic quarters, have a common identity curity of its own origins. problem with the Indians as they are also viewed Despite the eforts of the authorities to con‐ for their “otherness” as non-bumiputras. This per‐ trol and frame religious practices and daily living sistent “otherness” typically views the Malay-con‐ as desired by the Islamic-leaning authorities, the trolled authorities such as Dewan Bandaraya urban spaces are frequently appropriated by the Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) or City Hall and Public local communities to represent their own daily Works Department (PWD) as intrusive and not needs and aspirations. In Brickfelds, Baxstrom serving the overall interest of the predominantly notes the Hindu community’s reform eforts that non-Malay residents of Brickfelds. replicate many of the state ideals of correct citi‐ In the “The Imagined City” (chapter 3), King zenship, even if they are not Islamic. The Sri Mu‐ notes that the vision for the future of Malaysia’s rugan’s Centre combines bhakti (worship) prac‐ cities broaches both the pragmatic and the ideal. tice with secular educational activities (chapter 5). Mahathir’s and Anwar’s insistence on Malaysia These tutorial programs reinforce the notion that being a major player in the Information Age saw the Hindu community is not simply an “other” to the creation of the Multimedia Super Corridor Malaysian citizenry, and also assert the more plu‐ (MSC), a Silicon Valley-type business region, and ralistic outlook that the educated Malaysian sub‐ its urban center Cyberjaya. At the same time, an ject is also a spiritual subject. increased awareness of Malay-Muslim identity Even then, the divine and the supernatural of both politicizes and imagines Putrajaya toward a temple deities cannot be ignored when even the Middle East identifcation. This Islamic bent, as state’s Kuala Lumpur Monorail agency had to con‐ the author points, is sadly nothing Malayan in ori‐ fer with the local religious authorities over a re‐ gin, but a result of religious identifcation with the ported accident involving ghostly forces! Such Arab world. Even then, the Islamic geometries non-legal engagement refects the gravity in found in the buildings can also be partly traced to which the state views the role of spiritual inter‐ the American Art Deco revival of the 1980s. vention in modern urban planning. Such engage‐ In the next chapter “The Forgotten City,” King ment often works in favor of the temples to select explains how the selective process of Malaysia’s a more auspicious time for relocation as well as reinterpretation of the past serves only to mesh extract a substantial compensatory settlement. with Mahathir’s own interpretation of history However in Baxtrom’s study, belief itself is not which focuses heavily on Malay identifcation limited to the divine sphere or religious institu‐ with Islamic culture. Pre-Islamic indigenous prac‐ tions. Belief is more a conviction of one’s rightful tices such as animistic worship or even Hindu rit‐ place and relationship to the immediate world. uals are conveniently excluded in the architecture Brickfeld’s residents may have little infuence in and landscaping of Putrajaya. Unlike Kuala the formal legal process of municipal planning, Lumpur’s edifces, earlier non-Islamic or non- but their grassroots engagements suggest that Malay infuences such as Victorian, Buddhist, In‐

4 H-Net Reviews they invariably defne and create a world they space that transcends race and religion. Suria- can live and believe in. (KLCC), the Mines, and In the “The Metamorphic City” (chapter 5), Mid-Valley Megamall are cases in point. The com‐ King points that the daily economics of living munities have been brought together to these and transforms Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya into a other shopping malls in an environment of mod‐ more diverse reality of multiple worlds than the ern consumption. King refers to such markets of ordered spaces envisioned by the government. global commodities as “postmodern hypespace” Even then, confict among the authorities could be where the superfcial simulation of places from seen in the perpetual rivalry for Islamic legitima‐ afar creates a sense of disconnectedness with no cy between the United Malays National Organiza‐ anchor to an actual place or home. tion (UMNO) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). Such placelessness is further exacerbated by Both parties champion and constantly clash over the promotion of Cyberjaya and the cyberspace their projected views of Islamic identity. However, world where even whole temples have been de‐ larger international forces are at play, and Islamic molished and recreated in virtual forms. In con‐ revivalism from the Middle East to is junction with the MSC discourse, there has been a redefning Islamic discourse in Malaysia. Every‐ proliferation of private colleges and schools in day life in the real spaces of Kuala Lumpur, di‐ both information and creative technologies using verse street cultures still operate and challenge shopping malls as premises. This, plus the reloca‐ the notion of a perfect Islamic world. The bars tion of leading multicommunal institutes such as and night clubs of Jalan P. Ramlee, , Limkokwing University College of Creative Tech‐ and Chinatown are spreading and even Malay nology (LCIT) to Cyberjaya, will likely change the Muslim women are observed to have consumed more ordered Muslim landscape of Cyberjaya-Pu‐ alcoholic beverages. The wide availability of pirat‐ trajaya. Despite this potential, it is the city of ed DVDs and VCDs of pornographic and other du‐ Kuala Lumpur on which the author pins his hopes bious content are easily found in the back alley for the discourse of a new Malaysian society that stalls. As King points out, such spaces are more has divided itself since independence. Largely be‐ Chinese-controlled and also venues for global cause of her history and inherently transgressive market commodities rather than Malay Muslim- representations of space and practices, rather inspired. Such diversity is further asserted by car‐ than the imagined spaces of Putrajaya and Cyber‐ nivals and other religious festivals. The annual jaya, Kuala Lumpur may provide the antidote to Hindu Thaipusam festival and the spectacle of the the repressed discourse of ethnic minorities and kavadi carriers fascinate the public imagination. ultimately unite the country. The raucous cacophony of Chinese New Year cele‐ Baxstrom’s Houses in Motion is a revised ver‐ brations and the Formula-1 Grand Prix, plus the sion of his dissertation in which his feld research inclusive Malay Muslim Hari Raya festivities sug‐ is the core foundation of the study. The narrow gest the appropriation of public space by other geographical focus of the research belies the ori‐ forces than the state. gins of the project but the broader ethnographic However, it is the spaces of the shopping study of culture and politics in urban redevelop‐ malls that point to the power of modern con‐ ment is its main contribution. Readers interested sumption in shaping the future of Malaysian soci‐ in issues of race, governance, and the transforma‐ ety. The ephemeral and fuid nature of globalist tion of Malaysia’s urban landscapes will fnd trends from afar, and also demand for the newest Baxstrom’s work relevant to the growing body of and perpetual changes, create an amorphous Malaysian urban studies. Similarly, King’s Kuala

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Lumpur and Putrajaya falls within the same scholarly feld, and draws partially from his earli‐ er article “Re-writing the City: Putrajaya as Repre‐ sentation” (2007), with a critical analysis of recent political and social developments. Despite its jux‐ taposition to Putrajaya, Cyberjaya is minimally covered in a dozen pages or less that seem inade‐ quate to the larger role that Cyberjaya and the MSC plays in Malaysia’s quest for modernity.[2] There is also the architectural critique of the cities’ more signifcant edifces and landscapes where there is an element of subjectivity in the aesthetic interpretation of some of the buildings. However, such subjectivity is intrinsic in such aes‐ thetic perception and it does not take away the impressive scope of this work and the author’s ap‐ parent feel for the pulse of the Malaysian people. In the larger picture, both works draw from criti‐ cal historical studies and social theories and pro‐ vide an invaluable contribution to the feld of Malaysian urban studies, politics, and society.[3] Notes [1]. See Benedict Anderson, Imagined Commu‐ nities (New York: Verso, 1991); and Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage, 1994). [2]. For a more comprehensive study of Cy‐ berjaya and the MSC, readers may want to check Tim Bunnell’s Malaysia, Modernity and the Multi‐ media Corridor (London: Routledge, 2004). [3]. Readers may also want to check Goh Beng Lan’s Modern Dreams: An Inquiry into Power, Cultural Production and the Cityscape in Contem‐ porary Urban , Malaysia (Ithaca: Cornell University Program, 2002) for a similar study on another Malaysia city with a large Chinese population.

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Citation: Frank Chua. Review of Baxstrom, Richard. Houses in Motion: the Experience of Place and the Problem of Belief in Urban Malaysia. ; King, Ross. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia. H-Urban, H-Net Reviews. May, 2011.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=30525

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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