Baling: From Demontration to Industrialisation: A Collection of Essays in Time Geography. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-653-x (paperback).

Baling: From Demontration to Industrialisation: A Collection of Essays in Time Geography. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-653-x (paperback). 164 pp. RM 25.00. Asmah Ahmad

Baling is a small town remembered by most of us as a meeting place between Tunku Abdul Rahman and Chin Peng. But in this book, the author presents a collection of ten essays that will show the contextualised time geography that Baling had gone through. The three constrasting phases of a place’s life and time – Baling before, during and after development. In December 1974, the smallholders and their compatriots staged the ‘Hungry March’ when they are caught in squeeze of rising cost of living and low rubber prices. Things changed slowly after that and by 1988 the smallholder poverty level slipped to around 70 percent. But the pace of change had quickened thereafter as a result of development project which were embarked in the mid eighties. By 1994 development had delivered when the smallholder poverty slumped to around 45 percent. This write up is based on the studies conducted within this time frame, that is in 1981, 1988 and 1994. Two crucial aspect that was studied and analysed are the transformation of the economic and social structure of the population in Baling. It is hope this book is able to show the transition from poverty to well being in Baling.

ASMAH AHMAD, Ph. D., a Professor at the School of Social, Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM.

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor

Malaysia

Fax no. 03-89254575

Baling: From Demontration to Industrialisation: A Collection of Essays in Time Geography. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-653-x (paperback).

Baling: From Demontration to Industrialisation: A Collection of Essays in Time Geography. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-653-x (paperback). 164 pp. RM 25.00. Asmah Ahmad

Baling is a small town remembered by most of us as a meeting place between Tunku Abdul Rahman and Chin Peng. But in this book, the author presents a collection of ten essays that will show the contextualised time geography that Baling had gone through. The three constrasting phases of a place’s life and time – Baling before, during and after development. In December 1974, the smallholders and their compatriots staged the ‘Hungry March’ when they are caught in squeeze of rising cost of living and low rubber prices. Things changed slowly after that and by 1988 the smallholder poverty level slipped to around 70 percent. But the pace of change had quickened thereafter as a result of development project which were embarked in the mid eighties. By 1994 development had delivered when the smallholder poverty slumped to around 45 percent. This write up is based on the studies conducted within this time frame, that is in 1981, 1988 and 1994. Two crucial aspect that was studied and analysed are the transformation of the economic and social structure of the population in Baling. It is hope this book is able to show the transition from poverty to well being in Baling.

ASMAH AHMAD, Ph. D., a Professor at the School of Social, Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM.

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor

Malaysia

Fax no. 03-89254575

Transport for the Under-Served in Malaysia: The Roles of Minibuses in Malaysian Towns and Cities.

Transport for the Under-Served in Malaysia: The Roles of Minibuses in Malaysian Towns and Cities. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-663-7 (paperback). 326 hlm. RM 30.00. Abd Rahim Md Noor

Transport refers to any form of vehicles, motorised or otherwise, used by man to expendiate mobility. Minibus is one of the modes of transport for people living in towns and cities. It is a means of mobility for those who do not own a car or a motorcycle. In Malaysia it was introduced for the first time in Kuala Lumpur in late 1973 and operated fully the following year. After 23 years of services due to the sko-rocketing operational costs. What seem to be a promising mode of public transportation system in the city which was facing a serious decline in services due to the sky-rocketing operational costs. What seem to be a promising mode of public, especially working men and women, and housewives who do not drive because of the extremely cheap fare and faster travelling time and services, they were widely critised for reckless driving, over-crowding, noisy, unsightly and air pollution. This book looks into the reasons why the system, despite being very much sought after by the low income group was phased out in the early 1990s and finally taken out in 1997.

ABD. RAHIM MD NOR, Ph. D., an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. He is also a public transport concultant and had served among others Highway Planning Unit, Prime Minister Department, Department of the Environment, Putrajaya Development Corporation and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor

Malaysia

Fax no. 03-89254575

Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities

Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities: In Honour of the Late Ishak Shari. 2004. Penerbit UKM: Bangi. ISBN 967-942-665-3 (paperback). 418 pp. RM 60.00. Abdul Rahman Embong.

Globalisation, Culture and Inequalities is a memorial volume to honour the work of the well-known Malaysian development economist and public intellectual, the late Professor Dr. Ishak Shari, Director of IKMAS (1997-2001). The book’s theme attempts to reflect Ishak’s central concerns, commitment and direction in his lifelong work whilst the chapters try to capture the spirit and intent of Ishak’s passion as scholar and humanist. They are written by scholars from a range of disciplines- economists, sociologists, political scientists, and other scholars working from a multidisciplinary perspective, and who had known or had been working in some capacity or other with Ishak. The book attempts to answer five sets of interrelated questions pertaining to the various dimensions of globalisation and their implications to developing countries like Malaysia. Upholding the spirit of scholarly inquiry and rigorous debate, each contributor examines the problem of globalisation from his or her own grounded perspective. The common spirit underlying most essays is that the globalisation as defined by the so-called Washington Consensus and its ideologues needs to be interrogated and re-defined. As globalisation should be seen in the plural rather than in the singular, scholars particularly those from the developing world should actively participate in this debate to make globalisation not only beneficial to the rich and powerful few, but more importantly, to the overwhelming majority of mankind irrespective of their colour, gender and creed. Such a stance reflects the emancipation of the mind, a prerequisite that will enable scholars to undertake serious reflections and offer alternatives for a better and just world that Ishak stood for. This book is a must read for scholars, policy makers, students and the general public who are concerned with the impact of market-driven globalisation on inequalities and culture, and their implications for the country and people.

ABDUL RAHMAN EMBONG, Ph.D., is Professor in Sociology of Development at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), UKM. Among his other works include, State-led Modernization and the New Middle Class in Malaysia (2002) by Palgrave, while works with Penerbit UKM are, Southeast Asian Middle Classes: Prospects for Social Change and Democratisation (2001), Southeast Asia into the Twenty First Century: Crisis and Beyond (2000), and Negara Bangsa: Proses dan Perbahasan (2000).

Published by:

Penerbit UKM

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600, Bangi, Selangor

Malaysia

Fax no. 03-89254575