Seminar: Intimate Citizenship of Non-heteronormative Malay Men in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia: A Comparative Study
MALAYSIA STUDIES PROGRAMME
ABOUT THE SEMINAR
The presentation investigates the interplay of gender, sexual, ethnic, religious and national identities of Malay non-heteronormative men by comparing cases in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The Malays are singled-out not only because of their largely shared ethnic, cultural, and historical heritages even as they are physically and politically separated by post-colonial national boundaries, but also because these similarities allow for comparisons. By adopting the comparative study strategy and Ken Plummer’s (2003) conceptual model of intimate citizenship, the presentation aims to answer these questions: What are the similarities and differences in the lived experiences of Malay non-heteronormative men in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore?; What are the similarities and differences in the ways these men express their non-heteronormativities within specific and local gender, sexual, ethnic, religious, and nationalist discourses?; and How do they negotiate and navigate zones of intimacy?
By adopting the comparative study approach and conceptual model of intimate citizenship, this presentation hopes to shed light on how Malay non-heteronormative men negotiate their masculinity, sexuality, ethnicity, religious and national identities within the realms of nationalism, citizenship and the international discourse of sexual citizenship.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chua Hang Kuen is an early career researcher who completed his PhD at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne. Dr Chua is currently a lecturer and researcher in Anthropology and Sociology Division, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia. His research interests include masculinity, male body and sexuality. More specifically his work examines the behaviour, identity- and meaning-making of men within specific social contexts.
REGISTRATION
For registration, please fill in this form and email to iseasevents2@iseas.edu.sg by 30 March 2016.