Riwayat

24/08/2026

Francesca Albanese, the first woman to serve as UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, reflects on her years in Jerusalem and her journey toward understanding the Palestinian struggle. Through ten deeply personal stories—including those of Hind Rajab, Eyal Weizman, Gabor Maté and Alon Confino—she explores the people and experiences that shaped her understanding of Palestine, occupation and human rights.

When the World Sleeps is both a personal testimony and an examination of the realities Palestinians face. Through questions of occupation, displacement, statehood and self-determination, Albanese asks what Palestine’s future might hold—and whether Palestinians will ultimately be able to live freely and in peace.

Available online and at both stores.

20/08/2026

New title in store.

In this collection of essays, Shaharuddin Maaruf examines how the legacies of feudalism and colonialism continue to shape Southeast Asian societies, politics and culture.

Drawing on thinkers such as Ibn Khaldun, José Rizal and Pramoedya Ananta Toer, as well as the films of P. Ramlee, he explores the long contest between authoritarian power, intellectual resistance and humanistic values in the region.

19/08/2026

Israel has destroyed an estimated ONE MILLION olive trees since 1967. Why the obsession with uprooting this twisted and gnarly evergreen?

Join Palestinian activist and educator BAHA HILO for his presentation on the humble olive tree and its meaning for Palestinian life in their homeland. Link in the comment below.

18/08/2026

14/08/2026

What do we really know about the anthem that we’ve been singing all our lives?

Join Dr. Shazlin Amir Hamzah and Paul Augustin as they take us through the fascinating history of Negaraku—how this particular song came to be chosen as our national anthem, the people behind the process, and the stories surrounding its journey.

We’ve heard that they might even spill a little from their ongoing archival research, including materials and stories they’re still uncovering along the way. Link in the comment below.

14/08/2026

Colonialism may have ended. But did its hierarchies?

In Dismantling Global White Privilege, Chandran Nair turns the conversation beyond individual racism to something larger: who holds power, who sets the standards, and why the rest of the world continues to accept them.

13/08/2026

Five members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) seized the ninth floor of Kuala Lumpur’s AIA Building, taking 53 people hostage in a five-day drama that held the city in suspense.

Their demand: the release of imprisoned comrades in Japan. What followed was a tense international crisis of threats, negotiations and high-stakes diplomacy involving Malaysia, Japan and several foreign governments, as authorities raced to secure the hostages’ lives and bring the siege to an end. Five Days in August revisits those extraordinary days through Abdul Rahmat Omar, son of then Inspector-General of Police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar, offering a close perspective on an episode that tested Malaysia’s security establishment and unexpectedly placed Kuala Lumpur at the centre of international terrorism. Link in the comment below.

12/08/2026

Can we really tell history by looking at a painting?

Join Prof. Syed Farid Alatas for a presentation exploring how art can offer another way of understanding history—beyond the conventional approach.

The presentation will discuss how art provides an alternative to the scientific approach to the study of history. It does this using the example of two paintings that depict the arrest of the Javanese prince, by the Dutch colonial authorities. Link in the comment below.

11/08/2026

Let’s talk about something we don’t talk about enough—the politics of food.

Join us for a conversation with Chin Kar Yern as he shares insights from his recent work, Modern Pangs: The Politics of Food and Hunger after Merdeka. From milk colonies to street food rebellion, we’ll explore how food, hunger, everyday life and politics became intertwined in the making of post-independence Malaysia. Link in the comment below.

09/08/2026

Where Honour Stood looks beyond the badge to tell the story of the man who wore it. It is the life of Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar, told not only through his years as Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police, but through the memories, relationships and experiences that shaped him.

Through his life and service, the book also offers a window into some of Malaysia’s most consequential decades: the challenges, changes and turning points that shaped the nation, and the man who found himself at the centre of many of them.

Available online and in both stores.