Understanding Transnational Solidarity

On this episode of A Bit of Culture, Kam Raslan dives deep into history with lenses zoomed-in to the South East Asian region. The first half of two very illuminating discussions begin with Prof. Sumit Mandal, Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. We were eager to know his art of history telling; focusing on a recent book he authored, Becoming Arab. The historian introduce listeners to the Hadhrami's of Yemen, which settled largely in Indonesia, naturally rolling into other parts of the Malay world through trade. And through it, we delve into historical contexts, racialized societies and the broad similarities of colonization. Next, we welcome Netusha Naidu, aspiring scholar at Cambridge University en route to completing her post-grad studies on the histories revolving provinces of Southern Thailand and the East Coast of peninsular Malaysia. Through her research, she aims to give a more centrist position on the relationship between these two regions, which is often lopsided - as most history would. Netusha shares with us her inspirations for her research in a region so often misunderstood.