Rehman Rashid

"There is something profound in our catchy little exhortation, “Malaysia Boleh!”. The past two or three decades seem to have honed us into a sort of stylish resilience. Among the things “Malaysia Can Do” is sidestep insouciantly past pitfalls that routinely swallow other nations whole. We are held together in our chronic cultural disarray by — among other things — a certain gallows humour and clear-eyed realism. In Malaysia, after all, even the most horrific highway pile-up raises the possibility of lucky numbers."

"Writing what I do is like pulling away layered veils one at a time; each one revealing tantalising shapes and forms still to be uncovered. Puzzled as I’ve been by the absence of any “mainstream” attention to the phenomenon of ‘Peninsula’ last year, I now take it as a form of carte blanche: I remain free to do (or not do) as I please with what I have. From feeling rejected and disdained by the “literary fraternity” in this country, I now feel weightlessly above the mists & mire, and I like the view from up & out here. I’ve paid my dues and owe you nothing but my gratitude now."