Kampung ('village') habits and traits have been widely invoked in 'explanations' of inappropriate urban conduct among Malays in Malaysia. State-sponsored rural-urban migration for Malays from the 1970s was bound up with a conception of urbanisation as a remedy for the supposedly socioeconomically debilitating effects of kampung life. Yet many such migrants, especially in the national capital, Kuala Lumpur, came to live in squatter kampungs. A dominant Malay nationalist rationality of government has long understood squatter settlements as a failure of attempts to urbanise the Malay. Even when squatters are relocated to public flats, 'kampung values' have been invoked to account for inappropriate social conduct. However, kampung norms and forms are increasingly drawn upon in authoritative conceptions of Malay and even Malaysian urbanity. 'Kampung rules' for Kuala Lumpur's physical and moral landscape are shown to emerge from the contested government of urban(e) Malayness.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alatas, S.H. (1977) The Myth of the Lazy Native. London: Frank Cass.
2.
Amry, S. (1997a) Public apathy about cleanliness symptomatic of slow social development, New Straits Times, 12 August, p. 2.
3.
Amry, S. (1997b) City of future with a strong local imprint, New Sunday Times, 13 April, p. 16.
4.
Azizah Kassim (1982) A history of squatting in West Malaysia with special reference to the Malays in Kuala Lumpur. Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
5.
Azizan, Z.A. (1997) A city in the making: a case study on Putrajaya . Paper presented at South South Mayor's Conference: Developing Solutions for Cities of the 21st Century, July, Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
6.
Barnett, C. (1999) Culture, government and spatiality: Reassessing the 'Foucault effect' in cultural-policy studies, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2, pp. 369-397.
7.
Brookfield, H., Abdul Samad Hadi and Zaharah Mahmud (1991) The City in the Village: The In-situ Urbanization of Villages, Villagers and their Land around Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
8.
Bunnell, T. (1999) Views from above and below: the Petronas Twin Towers and/in contesting visions of development in contemporary Malaysia, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 20, pp. 1-23.
9.
Bunnell, T. (2002a) (Re)positioning Malaysia: high-tech networks and the multicultural re-scripting of national identity, Political Geography, 21, pp. 105-124.
10.
Bunnell, T. (2002b) Multimedia utopia? A geographical critique of high-tech development in Malaysia, Antipode, 34, pp. 265-295.
11.
Bunnell, T. (forthcoming) Malaysia, Modernity and the Multimedia Super Corridor . London: Routledge.
12.
Chua, B.H. (1995) That imagined space: nostalgia for kampungs, in: B. S. A. Yeoh and L. Kong (Eds) Portraits of Places: History, Community and Identity in Singapore, pp. 222-241. Singapore: Times Editions.
13.
Cresswell, T. (1996) In Place/Out of Place: Geography, Ideology and Transgression. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
14.
Cresswell, T. (2000) Falling Down: Resistance as diagnostic, in: J. Sharp, P. Routledge, C. Philo and R. Paddison (Eds) Entanglements of Power: Geographies of Domination and Resistance, pp. 256-268. London: Routledge.
15.
Dean, M. (1994) Critical and Effective Histories: Foucault's Methods and Historical Sociology. London: Routledge.
16.
Dean, M. (1999) Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society . London: Sage.
17.
Federal Department Of Town And Country Planning ( 1997) Landscape Master Plan for Cyberjaya, Malaysia. May.
18.
Foucault, M. (1991) Governmentality, in: G. Burchell, C. Gordon and P. Miller (Eds) The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, pp. 87-104. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
19.
Ghani Salleh and Lee Lik Meng (1997) Low Cost Housing in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications.
20.
Gomez, E.T. and Jomo, K.S. (1997) Malaysia's Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Guinness, P. (1992) On the Margin of Capitalism: People and Development in Mukim Plentong, Johor, Malaysia. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
22.
Hisham Harun (1997) Squatter's plight after relocation, New Straits Times (Life and Times section), 17 April, p. 1.
23.
Kahn, J.S. (1992) Class, ethnicity and diversity: some remarks on Malay culture in Malaysia , in: J. Kahn and F. Loh (Eds) Fragmented Vision: Culture and Politics in Contemporary Malaysia, pp. 158-178. Sydney: Allen and Un-win.
24.
Kessler, C. (1980) Malaysia: Islamic revivalism and political disaffection in a divided society, Southeast Asia Chronicle, 75, pp. 3-11.
25.
Khoo, B.T. (1995) Paradoxes of Mahathirism: An Intellectual Biography of Mahathir Mohamad. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.
26.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (1993) Kuala Lumpur City Hall Irformation Book. The Administration and Public Affairs Division, February.
27.
Kurokawa, K. (1999) Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Stuttgart: Edition Axel Menges.
28.
Lee, B.T. (1987) New towns in Malaysia: Development and planning policies, in: D. R. Phillips and A. Yeh (Eds) New Towns in East and Southeast Asia: Planning and Development, pp. 153-169. New York: Oxford University Press.
Livingstone, D.N. (1992) The Geographical Tradition. Oxford: Blackwell.
31.
Mahathir Mohamad (1970) The Malay Dilemma. Singapore : Times Books.
32.
Mahathir Mohamad (1993) Malaysia: the way forward, in: A. Hamid (Ed.) Malaysia's Vision 2020: Understanding the Concept, Implications and Challenges , pp. 403-420. Petaling Jaya: Pelanduk Publications.
33.
Malay Mail (1997a) You may be next: authorities urged to act against high-rise littering, 30 May, p. 1.
34.
Malay Mail (1997b) We're ashamed , 31 May, p. 1.
35.
Malay Mail (1997c) Binocular watch on tenants, 30 May, p. 2.
36.
Malay Mail (1997d) Educate high-rise tenants call, 31 May, p. 2.
37.
Malaysia (1971) Second Malaysia Plan, 1971-75. Kuala Lumpur: Government Printers.
38.
Malaysia (1983) 1980Population and Housing Census of Malaysia: General Report of the Population Census. Kuala Lumpur: Department of Statistics.
39.
Malaysia (1996) Seventh Malaysia Plan, 1996-2000. Kuala Lumpur: Government Printers.
40.
Matless, D. (1994) Moral geography in Broad-land, Ecumene, 1, pp. 127-155.
41.
Matless, D. (1998) Landscape and Englishness. London: Reaktion.
42.
McGee, T. (1967) The Southeast Asian City: A Social Geography of the Primate Cities of Southeast Asia. London: G. Bell and Son.
43.
McGee, T. (1976) Malay migration to Kuala Lumpur city: individual adaptation to the city, in: D. Banks (Ed.) Changing Identities in Modern Southeast Asia, pp. 199-235. The Hague: Mouton Publishers.
44.
McNay, L. (1994) Foucault: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge: Polity Press.
45.
Mid-Valley Sdn. Bhd. (1997) Realizing the Malaysian vision (marketing material).
46.
Miller, P. and Rose, N. (1990) Governing economic life, Economy and Society, 19, pp. 1-31.
47.
Mitchell, D. (2000) Cultural Geography: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
48.
Mohd. Razali Agus (1989) Impact of urbanization on the urban Malays of Malaysia: problems of homeownership of the lower income groups, Sarjana (Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Malaya), 5, pp.113-142.
49.
Mohd. Razali Agus (1993) Squatters and urban development in Malaysia, Sarjana (Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Malaya), 10, pp. 113-131.
50.
Mohd. Razali Agus (2000) Etos budaya kerja masyarakat Melayu Bandar, in: Mohd. Razali and Fashbir NooR Sidin (Eds) Pembangunan dan Dinamika Masyarakat Malaysia, pp. 285-295. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan.
51.
MoKhtar Long Idris (1993) Urban housing with special emphasis on the squatter population of Kuala Lumpur, in: K. Othman (Ed.) Meeting Housing Needs: Issues and Policy Directions, pp. 15-31. Kuala Lumpur: Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
52.
Morshidi Sirat, Abdul Fatah Che Hamat, Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz, Alip ET AL. (1999) Low-cost Housing in Urban-Industrial Centres of Malaysia: Issues and Challenges. Pulau Pinang: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia.
53.
Muhammad Mohd. Taib (1993) Melayu Baru. Kuala Lumpur: ITC Book Publisher .
54.
Murdoch, J. (2000) Space against time: competing rationalities in planning for housing, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 25, pp. 503-519.
55.
Nelson, S. (1997) The litterbug in you and me, New Straits Times, 12 August, p. 7.
56.
New Straits Times (1996) Sri Putra residents refuse to budge, 17 April, p. 22.
57.
New Straits Times (1997a) Bangsar flats 'the worst', 9 October, p. 17.
58.
New Straits Times (1997b) Flat dwellers to pay for vandalism, 9 October p. 17.
59.
Ngiom and Tay , L. (2000) 80 Years of Architecture in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia.
60.
Nooi, P.S., Kuppusamy, S. and Norris, M.W. (1996) Metropolitan management of Kuala Lumpur, in: R. Ruland (Ed.) The Dynamics of Metropolitan Management in Southeast Asia, pp. 133-167. Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
61.
Ockey, J. (1997) Weapons of the urban weak: democracy and resistance to eviction in Bangkok slum communities, Sojourn, 12, pp. 1-25.
62.
Ong, A. (1987) Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline . Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
63.
Pirie, P. (1976) Squatter settlements in Kuala Lumpur, in: Setinggan, pp. 37-90. Bangi: Jabatan Antropologi & Sociology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
64.
Real Estate Review (1993) Kampung-minium: a new style of living, 12, pp. 26-28.
65.
Rose, N. (1996) Identity, genealogy, history, in: S. Hall and P. Du Gay (Eds) Questions of Cultural Identity, pp. 128-150. London : Sage.
66.
Rose, N. (1999) Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
67.
Sager Ahmad (1997) Projects changing Bangsar's skyline, New Straits Times, 21 May, p. 17.
68.
Sardar, Z. (2000) The Consumption of Kuala Lumpur. Chichester: Reaktion.
69.
Scott, J.C. (1998) Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
70.
Shamsul, A.B. (1988) Kampung: Antara Kenyataan Dengan nostalgia, Dewan Masyarakat, December, pp. 4-5.
71.
Shamsul, A.B. (1996) Nations-of-intent in Malaysia, in: S. Tonnesson and H. Antlov (Eds) Asian Forms of theNation, pp. 323-347. Richmond: Curzon.
72.
Shukor Rahman (1996) Lack of community spirit in urban areas, New Straits Times, (Life and Times section), 27 September, p. 8.
73.
Singh, J. (1996) Way finally clear for urban renewal project, New Straits Times, 13 August, p. 16.
74.
Sioh, M. (1998) Authorizing the Malaysian rain-forest: configuring space, contesting claims and conquering imaginaries, Ecumene , 5, pp. 144-166.
75.
Sloane, P. (1999) Islam, Modernity and Entrepreneurship among the Malays. Basingstoke: MacMillan.
76.
The Star, Metro (1997a) City Hall to evict tenant, 28 July, p. 3.
77.
The Star, Metro (1997b) Cameras keep vandals at bay, 28 July, p. 1.
78.
Syed HusIn Ali (1997) Solving housing rights issues in Malaysia. Urban Pioneers Support Committee, 15 April.
79.
Syed HusIn Ali (1998) Squatters and forced evictions in Malaysia, in: K. Fernandes (Ed.) Forced Evictions and Housing Right Abuses in Asia: Second Report 1996-7, pp. 91-104. Karachi: City Press.
80.
Utusan Malaysia (1997) Malang tidak berbau, 31 May, p. 3.
81.
Yeang, K. (1989) Tropical Urban Regionalism. Singapore: Mimar.
82.
Yeoh, S.G. (2001) Creolized utopias: squatter colonies and the post-colonial city in Malaysia, Sojourn, 16, pp. 102-124.
