Decolonial Dialogues: Reclaiming the Narrative of Malay Women

Join Dr Suriani Suratman as she talks about Malay women and the need to disturb, disrupt and dispute hegemonic and Western-centric perspectives and narratives, and hear from student curators Rukhsana Bi and Nur Insyirah as they walk us through their process in curating  Perempuan Melayu...Biadab?

This talk is in conjunction with the launch of the exhibition,  Perempuan Melayu...Biadab?, a decolonial exploration of colonial and self-representations of Malay women. The exhibition interrogates colonial narratives by centering empowering works and images of Malay women.

This event invites us to challenge longstanding colonial views and rethink historical narratives. Find out more about our new collection of Malay magazines from pre-independent Singapore too!

NUS Libraries’ Decolonial Dialogues, a new collaborative learning space within the Singapore-Malaysia Collection at NUS Central Library (Level 5). In the heart of our commitment to decoloniality lies the recognition and re-evaluation of dominant histories and hegemonic narratives. Hence, this initiative aims to spotlight our rare collection of colonial-era primary documents while serving as a platform to engage critically with these resources through a decolonial methodology.

Speaker

Dr Suriani Suratman

Dr Suriani Suratman

Senior Lecturer, Department of Malay Studies, NUS
Suriani Suratman is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Malay Studies, NUS. Her research focuses on gender relations and the issue of (in)equalities in Malay families and households and Malay ethnic identity and the (re)production of potrayals of Malays.

Nur Insyirah

Nur Insyirah Binte Muhammad Azhari Abdullah

Student Curator
Nur Insyirah graduated from NUS in 2024 with a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours), double majoring in Sociology and Malay Studies. Passionate about encouraging discussions and sparking interest in critical social issues often overlooked or ignored, she actively pursued this mission through her involvement with the NUS Malay Studies Society. During her tenure, she played an instrumental role in the ideation and execution of a wide range of impactful events such as "The Deviant Shia: Fact or Fallacy?", "Managing Mental Health: Pills or Prayers?", "The Malay: Are We Destined to Fail?", "Islam 'Commodified': Preachers & Influencers in the New Business Model", and "Unshackling the 'Aql: Decolonising History, Language & Religion in Independent Singapore".

Rukhsana Bi

Rukhsana Bi D/O Abdul Wahid

Student Curator
Rukhsana is currently studying Political Science and Malay Studies in NUS. She is also a student research assistant at NUS Libraries where she gets to spend all day looking through archives from the Singapore/Malaysia Collection. She spends her time listening to music, reading books and trying new cafes! She also spends a considerable amount of time working on projects and events for the NUS Muslim Society, the NUS Malay Studies Society and the NUS Political Association.

Moderator

Nur Diyana

Nur Diyana Binte Abdul Kader

Librarian (Research Librarian – HASS)
Diyana provides research and information services, particularly on Southeast Asia, apart from developing the Library’s collection and teaching information literacy. Her thoughts and musings can be found in Perempuan: Muslim Women Speak Out (2016), Budi Kritik (2018) and Growing Up Perempuan (2018).

All NUS staff and students are welcome.
Booking availability on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information on the Singapore-Malaysia Collection.
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