Gatty Lecture Series

Join us for a talk by Hew Wai Weng, (Research fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, National University of Malaysia), who will discuss Decolonial Idioms and Right-wing Propaganda in Malaysia.

This Gatty Lecture will take place at the The Kahin Center, 640 Stewart Ave. Lunch will be served. For questions, contact seapgatty@cornell.edu.

About the Talk

It is often assumed that decolonial discourses will empower emancipatory and anti-racist movements. Yet, in reality, many right-wing activists appropriate decolonial idioms to promote their ultra-nationalist, majoritarian and nativist agenda. In Malaysia, several right-wing groups and individuals routinely use the “decolonial” rhetoric to criticize various ethnic, religious, gender and sexual minorities and to silence their efforts to demand equal rights. In other words, their call to go against ‘colonizers’ is to justify their intolerant stands by simply labelling any perceived threats to ‘heterosexual Malay Muslim identity’ as “foreign intervention”, “Western imperialism”, or “Chinese colonialism”. In this talk, he will first discuss two concurrent trends in Malaysia – the rise of right-wing majoritarianism and the popularity of decolonial discourses. He will then explore how “decolonial” rhetoric feeds into right-wing propaganda, as manifested in political campaigns, social activism, academic writings, and pop culture. Lastly, he goes beyond the Malaysian case study to examine similar trends of right-wing appropriation of “decolonial” discourses in the region (such as in Indonesia) and beyond. This talk aims to draw attention to the possible danger and limitations of decolonial scholarship without totally dismissing its emancipatory potential. 

About the Speaker

Hew Wai Weng is a research fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (IKMAS, UKM). He writes about Chinese Muslim identities, Hui migrations, political Islam, urban middle-class Muslim aspirations and their social media practices in Malaysia and Indonesia. He is the author of ‘Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity in Indonesia’ (NIAS Press, 2018). As a visiting fellow at SEAP during 2023-2024, under the Fulbright Malaysia Scholar Program, he researches political Islam and Malay Muslim majoritarianism in contemporary Malaysia by looking at various key actors and their narratives - ranging from politicians, activists, and preachers to influencers.