MASSA Symposium 2023: Who Are You, Malaysia? Representations of Malaysia's Past, Present and Future after 60 Years of Nationhood

We were honored to be invited to participate in the Malaysia & Singapore Society of Australia (MASSA) conference held at New Era University College last weekend. This year, Malaysia is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and the theme of this conference focuses on important socio-scientific issues such as the economy, politics, culture, and regional and international relations with neighboring countries since the founding of the nation of Malaysia.

Thomas Fann, the president of our internship organization BERSIH, and Dr. Wong Chin Huat, one of the founders of the organization, were also invited as speakers in this conference. Several speakers in this conference also shared their perspectives on the political changes in Malaysia since the party alternation in 2018 and the future development of Malaysia amidst the transformation of party politics. It is worth mentioning that in 2018 Malaysia achieved its first ever party alternation, but due to the 'Sheraton Move' in 2020, which further resulted in the loss of political power for the Pakatan Harapan (PH). This incident has also become one of the reasons for the legislation of ""anti-hopping law"" mentioned in our previous article.

Although BERSIH was one of the organizations that pushed for the act, the President also emphasized that BERSIH is not always the unqualified supporter of Pakatan Harapan that people think it is. On the other hand, BERSIH will continue to monitor the government in its role as a watchdog, and will not lessen the force of its monitoring because it was once an ally in promoting party alternation.

As the political environment in Malaysia is very different from that of Taiwan, attending this conference provided us with an opportunity to understand the differences between the Malaysian electoral system and what is happening in Taiwan. To us from the Department of Political Science and Economics, this is an invaluable experience. Being physically present in such an environment, and being around the people there, gives us a more comprehensive understanding of this country's political environment.